Welcome to the July Analog Dialogue
Robust systems often allow multiple power sources. When different power sources are used to power a device, switches need to be implemented to separate the power supplies from each other to avoid damage. This can be accomplished with multiple diodes in the power path. However, a more flexible and much more efficient way is to use ideal diodes for this task. This article, “Robust Power Source with Ideal Diodes,” explains how such ideal diodes are beneficial. Two versions of ideal diodes are shown: one where the selection of input rail is independent of the voltage level, and a simpler one where the higher voltage always powers the system.
Manufacturing is going through a period of transformation driven by changes in consumer demand for more personalized products and reshoring post-pandemic supply chain crunch, to name just a couple of these challenges. This article, “Digital Factory of the Future Transforms Manufacturing,” will review the key challenges in manufacturing today and explore the transformation that is taking place. This transformation is being driven by a new focus on resource-aware manufacturing, enabled by new technologies and capabilities including artificial intelligence, decentralized control, hybrid networking, and software-defined automation all combined to enable the digital factory of the future.
The article “Passing EMI Compliance Testing the First Time—Part 1: The Physics” is this month’s next feature. Any product designed today that requires high speed clocks can be troubled with electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) compliance issues. This article outlines an electromagnetic (EM) field-oriented perspective for printed circuit board (PCB) design intended to help the reader pass electromagnetic interference (EMI) compliance testing the first time.
This month’s RAQ, “Toward Smarter Digital Predistortion Engines: A Neural Network-Based Approach,” addresses the challenges of signal distortion and energy inefficiency in power amplifiers (PAs) for next-generation wireless communication by introducing an AI-driven digital predistortion (DPD) framework. Traditional polynomial-based DPD methods struggle with computational complexity and limited adaptability to nonlinearities and memory effects. Leveraging advanced neural network architectures, the proposed system dynamically optimizes predistortion and outperforms traditional approaches in efficiency, adaptability, and real-time correction.
Dive into the world of pulsed oscillators with our latest StudentZone article, “ADALM2000 Activity: Pulsed Oscillators.” In this lab activity, we will investigate the characteristics of an oscillator that produces a pulsed output (short burst of cycles), which is gated by an input square wave.
And as we have for over 58 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.