The electrolytic capacitor is far from being the most reliable electronic component. One of its failure modes – a gradual loss of capacity – can hardly be noticed until power supply malfunction occurs. Thus, any chance to monitor the condition of the filter capacitors of an electronic device in situ would be a useful thing. …
Before working as an applications engineer, I worked as an IC test development engineer here at TI. One of my projects was to characterize an I2C temperature sensor. After writing some software, I threw together a hand-wired prototype board. I was in a hurry, so I left off that pesky decoupling capacitor. Who needs it, …
The decoupling capacitor…is it really necessary? Read More »
If you’ve ever been designing a circuit and had to experiment with different values of caps and resistors, you probably didn’t like it much. It can be a hassle to switch out components over and over, trying to find the right combination to suit your needs. With RC filter circuits, it can be quite difficult …
Super Capacitors have become more popular over the past 5 years and are beginning to replace batteries in some applications. Charging a super cap can be tricky especially if you want to avoid damaging it. Read More: How to Charge a Super Capacitor with a Solar Panel
Introduction This application note details a step-by-step design process for the MAX16833 high-voltage high-brightness LED driver to speed up prototyping and increase the chance for first-pass success. The MAX16833 is a peak current-mode-controlled LED driver, capable of driving an LED string in several different architectures: boost, buck-boost, SEPIC, fly back, and high-side buck topologies. The …
Step-by-Step Design Process for the MAX16833 High-Voltage High-Brightness LED Driver Read More »
