When a system designer specifies a nonisolated dc/dc powermodule, considering the needed input voltage range isequally as important as considering the required performanceattributes and features. Generally, nonisolated moduleshave either a narrow or a wide input voltage range. Narrowinputmodules typically have a nominal input voltage of3.3, 5, or 12 V. For systems that operate from a tightlyregulated input bus—such as those that do not use batterybackup—a narrow-input module is often adequate sincethe input remains fairly stable.Offering greater flexibility, wide-input modules operatewithin a range of 7 to 36 V, which includes the popular12- or 24-V industrial bus. This enables a single module tobe used for generating multiple voltages. These modulesare ideal for industrial controls, HVAC systems, vehicles,medical instrumentation, and other applications that usea loosely regulated distribution bus. In addition, systemspowered by a rectifier/battery charger with lead-acidbattery backup almost always require wide-input modules.System designers who choose power supplies may wantto take a close look at the latest generation of wide-inputdc/dc modules.
The MAX9257/MAX9258 programmable serializer/deserializer (SerDes) devices transfer both video data and control signals over the same twisted-pair cable. However, control data can only be transmitted during the vertical blank time, which is indicated by the control-channel-enabled output (CCEN) signal. The electronic control unit (ECU) firmware designer needs to know how quickly to respond to the CCEN signal before it times out and how to calculate this duration. This application note describes how to calculate the duration of the CCEN for the MAX9257/MAX9258 SerDes chipset. The calculation is based on STO timeout, clock frequency, and UART bit timing. The CCEN duration is programmable and can be closed if not in use.
The PCA9516 is a BiCMOS integrated circuit intended forapplication in I2C and SMBus systems.While retaining all the operating modes and features of the I2Csystem, it permits extension of the I2C-bus by buffering both the data(SDA) and the clock (SCL) lines, thus enabling five buses of 400 pF.The I2C-bus capacitance limit of 400 pF restricts the number ofdevices and bus length. Using the PCA9516 enables the systemdesigner to divide the bus into five segments off of a hub where anysegment to segment transition sees only one repeater delay.
The PCA9517 is a CMOS integrated circuit that provides level shifting between lowvoltage (down to 0.9 V) and higher voltage (2.7 V to 5.5 V) I2C-bus or SMBus applications.While retaining all the operating modes and features of the I2C-bus system during thelevel shifts, it also permits extension of the I2C-bus by providing bidirectional buffering forboth the data (SDA) and the clock (SCL) lines, thus enabling two buses of 400 pF. Usingthe PCA9517 enables the system designer to isolate two halves of a bus for both voltageand capacitance. The SDA and SCL pins are over voltage tolerant and arehigh-impedance when the PCA9517 is unpowered.
With the Altera Nios II embedded processor, you as the system designercan accelerate time-critical software algorithms by adding custominstructions to the Nios II processor instruction set. Using custominstructions, you can reduce a complex sequence of standard instructionsto a single instruction implemented in hardware. You can use this featurefor a variety of applications, for example, to optimize software innerloops for digital signal processing (DSP), packet header processing, andcomputation-intensive applications. The Nios II configuration wizard,part of the Quartus® II software’s SOPC Builder, provides a graphicaluser interface (GUI) used to add up to 256 custom instructions to theNios II processor
