2019-12-19 - Bob Witte

Quadrature modulation: The signal behind digital communications

Also known as IQ modulation, the signaling has become a staple in wireless digital communications. It's based on modulating signals that are 90 degrees apart in phase.

- Bill Schweber

Extreme-Precision Numbers and Skepticism

It’s normal to be skeptical of data reported with many significant figures or extreme precision, but a NIST thermometer with 0.001°C precision legitimately supports that impressive...

2019-12-18 - Kendall Castor-Perry

Are Analog or Digital Filters Noisier?

Noise is everywhere, in active and passive components and yes, even in digital

2019-12-11 - Jordan Dimitrov

PWM DAC settles in one period of the pulse train

Here's a novel approach for improving the accuracy and settling time of PWM-based DACs.

2019-12-09 - John Dunn

Inventions that were almost ahead of their time

Sometimes an unrecognized capability has been close at hand, but doesn’t actually come to fruition until years, decades, or even centuries later.

2019-11-25 - John Dunn

What’s the maximum idle time for capacitors?

If you come across aluminum electrolytic capacitors that have been sitting idle in a cabinet somewhere for a very long time, chances are those capacitors will have degraded pretty badly.

2019-11-19 - Bob Witte

Common-impedance plumbing

Electricity is like water; it flows and has force.

2019-11-12 - Bill Schweber

Analog First or Rush to Compute?

Before you succumb to the temptation of intense number-crunching, understand the underlying real-world analog environment in which your model and its assumptions actually live.

2019-11-08 - Vladimir Oleynik

Polarity-correcting circuit protects battery-powered devices

The unintended reversal of battery polarity can be anything from an annoyance to a disaster. This circuit connects the battery to its load with the correct polarity, regardless of the battery’s installation.

2019-11-05 - Kendall Castor-Perry

Designing a Fast-Settling Bias Voltage Filter with High Ripple Rejection

Higher-order lowpass filters made using a “DC-free” technique can be much more effective in removing ripple from high voltage sources, yet respond rapidly to step-voltage changes and allow far lower capacitor values.