Welcome to the February Analog Dialogue.
You’ve asked, we’ve answered! Stay tuned for an all new, redesigned Analog Dialogue. Coming soon!
This month’s featured article “Protection and Telemetry in AI with 800 V Hot Swap” explores how Analog Devices is extending its leadership in hot swap technology to the 800 V domain, developing next-generation controllers that balance compact design, robust protection, and accurate data acquisition to enable safe and efficient operation in modern AI server environments. As artificial intelligence workloads drive unprecedented power demands in data centers, the industry is undergoing a fundamental shift from traditional 48 V to 800 V power delivery architectures at the rack level. This transition introduces significant safety and technical challenges—particularly around managing high voltage inrush currents during live server tray insertion and the need for precise telemetry to support system diagnostics and predictive maintenance.
“Voltage Accuracy of Switch-Mode Power Supplies” is our next featured article. It examines a critical aspect of power supply design that engineers must master: voltage accuracy in switch-mode power supplies. No switch-mode power supply achieves perfect accuracy, and understanding the various tolerances that influence output voltage precision is essential for successful circuit design. It breaks down the three primary sources of voltage inaccuracy. This article provides the practical knowledge needed to achieve reliable voltage regulation.
The next article “Leveraging a Multichannel PMIC as a Single-Output High Current PMIC” addresses a growing challenge in modern electronics: meeting the escalating power demands of high performance processors and FPGAs. It explores an innovative approach to power management by leveraging multichannel PMICs as single-output, high current power sources to simplify power architecture, enhance design reuse, and reduce board space in complex applications. This solution is particularly valuable for systems requiring scalable, flexible, and reliable high current power management.
This month’s RAQ, “Don’t Let Your Feedback Loop Fall Flat—Part 1: Bias Your Optocoupler Right!,” explores the critical role of optocouplers in switch-mode power supply design. While these components enable safe signal transmission across isolation boundaries, their performance hinges on proper biasing and integration within the feedback control loop. Part 1 guides readers through essential operational principles—including LED and phototransistor biasing, current transfer ratio selection, and compensation network design—showing how careful implementation ensures stable, precise, and resilient power supply performance under real-world conditions.
And as we have for over 59 years, we invite you to be part of the dialogue in Analog Dialogue. You can get in touch through our blog, Facebook page, or email. Let us know how we’re doing and what you’d like to see from us in the coming months.