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Wolfspeed Inc of Durham, NC, USA — which makes silicon carbide (SiC) materials and power semiconductor devices — has appointed David Emerson Ph.D. as executive VP & chief operating officer, a newly created role responsible for overseeing operational excellence across the firm’s 200mm facility footprint, reducing customer lead times, and manufacturing leading silicon carbide solutions for Wolfspeed’s customers. Emerson will be responsible for Wolfspeed’s Operations, Supply Chain, and Quality divisions...

The smartphone case study

Back in late March, at the end of my coverage of Google’s Pixel 9a smartphone launch:

I mentioned that one of my Pixel 7 phones had started swelling, indicative of a failing battery:

I teased that my fortunate upfront purchase of an extended warranty for it ended up being fortuitous and promised that the “rest of the story” would follow shortly. That time is now, and in this piece, I’ll also contrast my most recent experience with an earlier, less-positive outcome, as a means of more broadly assessing the consumer electronics warranty topic.

First, the Pixel 7. Devices containing swollen batteries can quickly transform into dangerously flammable sources, so I immediately removed the smartphone from its charger and powered it down. I then reactivated my Pixel 6a backup phone, the same one I’d temporarily pressed into service around a year earlier when my other Pixel 7’s rear camera array’s glass cover spontaneously cracked, and swapped the SIM into it. And then, I jumped online with Asurion, reported the issue, paid a (bogus, IMHO) $138.68 “service fee”, was directed to a local repair location (Asurion had bought uBreakiFix in late 2019), dropped the swollen Pixel 7 off, and ~24 hours later had a gift card sitting in my account for the original purchase price!

Let’s do the math:

• I bought the 128 GByte version of the phone in early June 2023 for $499, promotion-bundled (at the time) with a $100 Amazon gift card, for an effective price of $399.
• For the next 20 months (Asurion also auto-refunded my most recent month’s payment, although I had to then manually cancel the overall policy through Amazon, where it was treated as a subscription), I’d been paying $7.83 per month inclusive of tax for extended warranty coverage…a bit irritating, as the phone was redundantly covered by Google’s standard warranty for the first 12 of those months, but…for $156.60 total.
• I paid a $138.68 (once again, ridiculous, but…) “service fee” to process the warranty
• And I ended up getting a $499 gift card.

If my arithmetic is right, I ended up using the phone for nearly 2 years for a total fiscal outlay of $195.28 (plus the cost of the replacement phone, which I’ll mention next). I’m a bit surprised, honestly, that Asurion didn’t just have uBreakiFix swap in a new battery and give it back to me. That said, the display or internals might have gotten stressed by the swelling, so it was likely more straightforward for them from a long-term customer retention standpoint to just give me my money back. And to be clear, considering the burgeoning market for refurbished phones and other consumer electronics devices, they probably went ahead and swapped the battery themselves and then, after running diagnostics on the phone to make sure everything else checked out, resold it on Amazon Renewed, eBay Refurbished, or elsewhere.

Speaking of which, eBay is where I ended up picking up my replacement smartphone. I could have gone with a newer-generation Pixel device (or something else, for that matter), but I already had a bunch of extra Pixel 7-tailored cases, screen protectors and such in storage. And, thanks to Google’s recently expanded five years of software coverage for the Pixel 7 (and my Pixel 6a spare, for that matter), it was now guaranteed to get OS and security updates until October 2027 (versus the original October 2025, i.e. a few months from now as you read these words). I ended up with an eBay Certified Refurbished 128 GByte Pixel 7 in claimed excellent condition, complete with a 1-year bundled warranty, for $198.95 plus tax.

And indeed, when it arrived, it was in excellent condition (reflective of the highly and abundantly rated supplier I’d intentionally, carefully selected), cosmetically at least. It appears to have had a case and screen protector on it for its entire ownership-to-date, both of which I immediately replicated. And functionally, it also seems to be fine, albeit with one characteristic that gave me initial pause. Check out the to-date battery recharge cycle count reported for it:

At first glance, that seemed like a lot, given that Google documents that the Pixel 7 “should retain up to 80% capacity for about 800 charge cycles, after which battery replacement is “recommended,” and particularly given that my other Pixel 7 only has 40 to-date cycles on it:

But I’m an admittedly atypical case study. I work from home, where I also have VoIP, and rarely travel, so my smartphone usage is much lower than the norm. Conversely, given that the Pixel 7 first became available on October 13, 2023, 531 cycles almost exactly match a more typical one-recharge-per-day cadence. Going forward, now in my possession, this phone’s incremental-cycle cadence should dramatically decrease. And to further extend usable life, I’ve belatedly taken the extra step of limiting the peak charge point to 80% of total capacity on both Pixel 7s.

The soundbar case study

So, all good, right? Not exactly…there’s that other case study that I mentioned upfront I wanted to share. Two years back, I told you about my Hisense HS205 soundbar:

 

which I’d recently snagged on sale at Amazon for $34.99 to replace the BÖHM B2 precursor that wouldn’t accept beyond-Red Book Audio digital input streams:

Well…about six months after I bought it, and after very little use, it quit working. It still toggled among the various audio input sources using both the side panel buttons and the remote control:

but nothing came out of the speakers from any of them (and no, it wasn’t in “mute” mode). Given its low price and compact form factor, I assume that the power amplifier fed by all of those inputs via a preamp intermediary was based on inexpensive class D circuitry and had failed.

Good news: although it was beyond the one-month Amazon return period, it was still covered by the one-year factory warranty. Bad news: that warranty was “limited”. Translation: I was responsible for the cost and effort of return shipping to Hisense, including any loss or damage en route, which meant that I’d need to both package it in a bulky/heavily padded/more expensive fashion and pay for optional insurance on it. Further translated: it’d likely cost me as much, if not more, to ship the soundbar back to them as I’d paid for it originally. And I’d probably end up with an already-used replacement, with even more “limited” warranty terms.

Eventually, after I complained long and hard enough, Hisense’s customer support folks relented and emailed me a postpaid shipping label, followed by shipping me a seemingly brand-new replacement soundbar. Candidly, I suspect that although I always try to avoid such “media special treatment,” someone there did an Internet search on my name and figured out I was a “press guy” who should get “handled with kid gloves”. Would the average consumer have accomplished the same outcome, no matter how long and hard they complained? No. Which, again, is why I always strive to maintain anonymity. Sigh.

Similar experiences, good and/or bad? Other thoughts on what I’ve discussed? Sound off in the comments, please!

—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.

Related Content

• Google’s Pixel Smartphone Line: Extended and…Distended?
• Battery life management: the software assistant
• Designing for an uncertain future
• Playin’ with Google’s Pixel 7

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Japan-based ROHM has expanded its portfolio of surface-mount near-infrared (NIR) LEDs with new compact top-view types, optimized for applications such as VR/AR devices, industrial optical sensors, and human detection sensors...

How does a hot swap circuit work? What’s the role of a hot swap controller? What are the basic design considerations for selecting a hot swap controller or module? Here is a short tutorial explaining the inner functioning a hot swap device while outlining key design challenges. It also includes hot swap circuit schematics and design examples.

Read the full article at EDN’s sister publication, Planet Analog.

Related Content

• Making the Switch
• Introduction to Hot Swap
• Telecom hardware needs hot swap
• Hot-swap controllers: A programmable approach
• How does hot-swap capability improve isolated I2C interface?

The post Hot swap basics: Controllers, schematics, and design examples appeared first on EDN.

At SEMICON Southeast Asia 2025, Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) hosted the inaugural Innovate Together event — designed as a convergence point for industry, academia and the public sector — where it unveiled initiatives, strategic global partnerships, and new research platforms...

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

2 orders, months apart. difference is one board is assembled. shipping went from $2 to $80. What the actual heck (no stencil, gust the boards with some smt components) submitted by /u/Cr4zyC4tD4ddy [link] [comments]

Hey r/electronics, Sharing my final project for the third year as an apprentice, an electronic dice and slot-machine for trial apprentices. The main challenge was the multiplexing of the matrix and the logic behind it. It uses an AVR64DD14 to drive a 3x3 LED matrix (multiplexed) and reads a tilt sensor for shake detection. Powered by a 3V coin cell. Includes a basic dice function and a slot machine game, with potential for more animations. We're using a mix of THT and SMD components, aiming for beginner-friendly soldering. Its my first post here so if you want to know anything more about the project, please let me know! Submission is tomorrow, wish me luck :) submitted by /u/Deaf-Bread [link] [comments]

Освітньо-навчальна сесія в рамках проєкту «Єдиний простір» kpi чт, 05/22/2025 - 23:50

Всеукраїнська шкільна олімпіада «ЕкоГеній» в КПІ ім. Ігоря Сікорського kpi чт, 05/22/2025 - 23:46

📰 Газета "Київський політехнік" № 21-22 за 2025 (.pdf) kpi чт, 05/22/2025 - 23:03

NXP’s OrangeBox 2.0 automotive connectivity domain controller features an upgraded CPU and embedded AI acceleration. This second-generation development platform facilitates secure connectivity between the vehicle’s gateway and its wired and wireless systems in domain- and zonal-based architectures.

Powered by the i.MX 94 applications processor, OrangeBox 2.0 delivers 4× the CPU performance of its predecessor. The processor integrates four Arm Cortex-A55 cores, two Cortex-M7 cores, two Cortex-M33 cores, and the NXP eIQ Neutron NPU. It also adds post-quantum cryptography acceleration along with enhanced AI, safety, and security capabilities. An integrated 2.5-Gbps Ethernet switch enables software-defined networking and supports the shift to software-defined vehicles (SDVs).

OrangeBox 2.0 builds on its predecessor with integrated NXP wireless technologies, including the SAF9100 for software-defined audio and the AW693 for concurrent Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4 to enable secure over-the-air updates. It supports smart car access via NXP’s latest BLE/UWB technology and an automotive-grade secure element.

The OrangeBox 2.0 automotive development platform is expected to be available in the second half of 2025.

OrangeBox 2.0 product page

NXP Semiconductors 

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As Innatera’s first mass-market neuromorphic MCU, Pulsar delivers intelligence at the edge by emulating the brain’s neural networks. It uses Spiking Neural Networks that process only changes in input—enabling real-time decision making with significantly reduced energy and latency. According to Innatera, Pulsar achieves up to 100× lower latency and 500× lower energy consumption compared to conventional AI processors.

The Pulsar chip combines neuromorphic computing with conventional signal processing. In addition to its Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs), it integrates a RISC-V CPU and dedicated accelerators for Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). By processing data intelligently at the sensor level, Pulsar reduces reliance on power-hungry edge processors or cloud infrastructure for interpreting sensor input.

With sub-milliwatt power consumption, Pulsar enables always-on intelligence in power-constrained devices—from sub-millisecond gesture recognition in wearables to energy-efficient object detection in smart home systems. It provides real-time responsiveness with power budgets as low as 600 µW for radar-based presence detection and 400 µW for audio scene classification.

Pulsar is available now, supported by Innatera’s Talamo SDK for neuromorphic application development.

Pulsar product page

Innatera

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Navitas announced a production-ready 12-kW PSU reference design that achieves 97.8% efficiency for hyperscale AI data centers with 120-kW rack densities. The design incorporates three-phase interleaved TP-PFC and FB-LLC stages, implemented using Gen-3 Fast SiC MOSFETs and 4th-generation high-power GaNSafe ICs, respectively. The GaNSafe ICs integrate control, drive, sensing, and essential protection functions, while IntelliWeave digital control enhances overall performance.

IntelliWeave uses a hybrid strategy combining Critical Conduction Mode (CrCM) and Continuous Conduction Mode (CCM) to optimize efficiency from light to full load. This approach simplifies the design, reduces component count, and lowers power losses by 30% compared to conventional CCM-only solutions.

The PSU meets Open Rack v3 (ORv3) and Open Compute Project (OCP) standards, with dimensions of 790×73.5×40 mm. It operates from 180 VAC to 305 VAC and delivers up to 50 VDC, supplying 12 kW above 207 VAC and 10 kW below. Features include active current sharing and protection against overcurrent, overvoltage, undervoltage, and overtemperature. It operates from –5°C to +45°C, provides ≥20 ms hold-up time at 12 kW, and limits inrush current to ≤3× steady-state current for <20 ms. Cooling is provided by an internal fan.

For more information about the 12-kW PSU reference design, click here.

Navitas Semiconductor 

The post PSU combines GaN and SiC for hyperscale AI appeared first on EDN.

Toshiba has released four 650-V third-generation SiC MOSFETs in compact 8×8-mm DFN packages. The surface-mount DFN reduces volume by over 90% compared to leaded packages such as TO-247 (3-terminal) and TO-247-4L(X) (4-terminal). It also enables smaller parasitic impedance components, helping to lower switching losses.

The package’s flat, leadless design enables a Kelvin connection for the gate-drive signal-source terminal, minimizing source wire inductance. This improves switching speed and efficiency. For example, the TW054V65C achieves about 55% lower turn-on loss and 25% lower turn-off loss compared to Toshiba’s existing products.

Well-suited for industrial applications, the devices can be used for switch-mode power supplies, EV charging stations, and photovoltaic inverters. Key specifications include:

Toshiba has begun volume shipments of the TW031V65C, TW054V65C, TW092V65C, and TW123V65C 650-V SiC MOSFETs in the 8×8-mm DFN package.

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage 

The post Toshiba shrinks SiC MOSFETs with DFN package appeared first on EDN.

Powered by the Achronix Speedster 7t1500 FPGA, the VectorPath 815 PCIe accelerator card meets the performance demands of AI and HPC workloads. Speedster FPGAs integrate machine learning processors to deliver a massively parallel architecture, customizable data paths, and efficient processing of sparse and irregular computations.

“The VectorPath 815 card delivers greater than 2000 tokens per second with 10-ms inter-token latency (LLAMA 3.1-8B Instruct) for unmatched generative AI inferencing performance — enabling customers to accelerate bandwidth-intensive, low-latency applications with a greater than 3× total cost of ownership (TCO) advantage vs. competitive GPU solutions,” said Jansher Ashraf, director of AI Solutions Business Development at Achronix.

The Speedster 7t1500 FPGA features 2560 machine learning processors, a 2D network-on-chip, 692k LUTs, and 32 SerDes lanes supporting PCIe Gen5 ×16 and dual 400G Ethernet. The VectorPath 815 card builds on this by integrating 32 GB of GDDR6 memory for 4-Tbps bandwidth, 16 GB of DDR4 memory, dual QSFP-DD ports, and a PCIe Gen5 interface.

VectorPath 815 accelerator cards are now in volume production. 

VectorPath 815 product page

Achronix Semiconductor

The post PCIe card provides FPGA-based data acceleration appeared first on EDN.

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA — which was founded in 2015 and develops and manufactures high-power industrial blue lasers — has revealed TEKNE S.p.A. of Milan, Italy (a provider of integrated electronic warfare and cyber capabilities in military vehicles) as its targeted acquisition, as part of its overall plan to create a unique defense & security hub...

Altum RF of Eindhoven, The Netherlands (which designs RF, microwave and millimeter-wave semiconductors) is showcasing its featured products and technical expertise in booth #966 at the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2025) in Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, USA (15–20 June)...

Process control and inspection systems provider KLA Corp of Milpitas, CA, USA has opened its new $138m R&D and manufacturing center in Newport, Wales, UK, continuing the company’s history of regional investment. KLA’s Wales-based product division SPTS has been manufacturing semiconductor processing equipment in Wales since 1984, winning multiple Queen’s Awards for excellence in R&D and export...