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8-Bit Micros are Alive and Kicking 8-Bit Micros are Alive and Kicking in Nucleo-8s207k8 Boards The NUCLEO-8S207K8 board boasts a 32-pin STM8S207K8 MCU (Image source: STMicroelectronics) I just heard from the guys and gals at STMicroelectronics (ST) that they are "making design starts using 8-bit STM8 microcontrollers (MCUs) faster, more affordable, and more accessible for creative minds of all types by introducing new development boards in the easy-to-use Nucleo-32 form factor." We will return to consider these little rascals in a moment Read Article
Rigid-Flex PCBs in IoT Devices: ECAD and MCAD Collaboration Rigid-Flex PCBs in IoT Devices: ECAD and MCAD Collaboration At a recent PCB manufacturer’s trade show, multiple fabricators informed me they are seeing many more requests for flex and rigid-flex PCBs recently, particularly for smart wearables and small embedded/IoT products. The advantages of flex and rigid-flex PCBs include more efficient use of space in an enclosure, and the ability to adapt to foldable devices. Whether you need a static or dynamic flex/rigid-flex PCB, you’ll need to verify a number of Read Article
EMI from Heatsinks and What You Can Do About It EMI from Capacitor Heatsinks and What You Can Do About It Selecting the right heatsink can help you keep your system cool and prevent EMI. While it may not be obvious, or while most designers may not think to check, heatsinks can generate EMI when they are connected to a switching element. This is a common problem in power supply design, and whenever a heatsink is placed in contact with a component that switches with high current draw at high frequency. Reducing EMI from heatsinks requires balancing the Read Article
Some Techniques for Suppressing DC-DC Converter EMI in IoT Products Some Techniques for Suppressing DC-DC Converter EMI in IoT Products This Li ion battery is most likely connected to a switching regulator to provide stable power. Suppressing EMI susceptibility in IoT devices from various sources is critical to ensuring your new product will work as designed. Similarly, your IoT product should limit spurious emissions if you want it to comply with EMC regulations. Among the various sources of radiated EMI from your next product, EMI within the device itself should also be Read Article
Load Line Analysis for Nonlinear Circuits in Altium Designer Load Line Analysis for Nonlinear Circuits in Altium Designer If you’re in the business of analog circuit design, then you’ll likely need to run simulations of your system to determine its functionality. Linear systems are rather intuitive, even in the case where strong feedback becomes an important determinant of stability. With nonlinear circuits, this can get more complicated, and it’s not always easy to see how the system operates unless you have some experience with similar systems. Transistors and Read Article
A Retro-Computing Christmas A Retro-Computing Christmas Sinclair 48K ZX Spectrum computer (1982) (Image source: Bill Bertram/Wikipedia) It's starting to look a lot like (a retro-computing) Christmas. I understand why many younger readers cannot imagine a world before today's incredibly powerful computing and gaming systems with their high-resolution graphics subsystems. We all enjoy these systems, but those of us who are more... let's say "seasoned"… remember the raw excitement we felt just to own any Read Article
Splitting Planes—The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Splitting Planes—The Good, The Bad And The Ugly Splitting planes or making plane cuts is another one of those technical issues wherein there is a lot of conflicting information. Some say it’s a good thing to split power planes; others say you can split ground planes and power planes both, some say you make cuts only in power planes, and others say to avoid plane cuts altogether. This article will debunk the myths surrounding split planes, provide evidence as to when they are useful, and Read Article
Patrick Züger Talks About the Altium Designer 20 New and Exciting Features Patrick Züger Talks About the Altium Designer 20 New and Exciting Features "Altium Designer - for me, it’s the best (PCB design) tool" says Patrick Züger, a veteran Altium Beta user. Patrick shares Altium Designer 20 new and exciting features. Interactive routing is one. Read Article
Non-functional pads—what are they and what problems can they create? Capture Pads and Non-functional Pads in PCB Design: What Are They? In previous articles on my blog, I have stated that non-functional pads in PCB artwork should always be removed, but I have not gone into detail as to why this should be the case. In the industry at large, there is some confusion about these pads in PCB designs and whether or not they serve a useful purpose. In this article, I will define what they are, how their use originated, the problems they can create and why they should be removed from PCB Read Article
Geeky Holiday Gift Ideas Geeky Holiday Gift Ideas The holiday season is coming! I asked both the Altium community and my Altium Library community what geek gifts they are looking for, and I’ve added some of my own for the first ever Altium Geek Gift Guide! This is mostly for electronics geeks, but there should be something for everyone! There are so many amazing geek gifts out there it would be impossible to cover them all, so I’ve tried to keep to community suggestions. I then added just a few Read Article
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