Articles - 3

A Microchip Inc datasheet covering the MCP4xxx family of digital potentiometers (Dpot) includes an interesting application circuit on datasheet page 15. See Figure 1 for a (somewhat edited) version of their Figure 4-5. Figure 1. Amplifier with Dpot ...

Sometimes it’s necessary to drive a resistive load such as an incandescent bulb or heating element from a DC voltage that’s higher than the nominal load voltage. An example would be driving a 6.3-V, Type 47 bulb from an 18-V DC power ...

Also known as the source follower, the common-drain amplifier is notable for its low output impedance. This article introduces the basic common-drain configuration and examines its large-signal characteristics. Ideally, the output resistance of an ...

In switch-mode power converters, peak current control is very popular because of its inherent current limitation and ease of control. However, if the duty cycle is higher than 50%, there is an instability problem. Some background: The up-slope of ...

High integration in today’s analog ICs is ever expanding, but there are times when a circuit designer needs to design a better differential stage to an amplifier, especially an audio amp or pre-amp, or a voltage controlled resistor, thermally ...

Most differential field bus technologies, like CAN and RS-485, specify a parameter called common-mode voltage. Common-mode voltage refers to the range of bus input voltages, with respect to the transceiver’s ground, within which the ...

Manual amplifier nulling circuits are simple topologies, typically consisting of just a trimmer pot and a couple of fixed resistors intended to allow offset adjustment by a (usually small) symmetrical fraction of bipolar supply voltages. So, ...

In many electronic circuits, there is always a demand for a device to isolate or separate one circuit from another. This special device is called a buffer. A buffer is a unity-gain amplifier that has an extremely high input resistance and an ...

A common problem for digital potentiometers (DigiPots) is the effect of wiper resistance, which produces quite noticeable non-linearities of regulation at both ends of the resistance range. These effects also lead to an increased tempco in these ...

Given their generally low cost, small size, robust construction, accuracy, versatility, and sensitivity, it’s no wonder that basic negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistors rate among the most popular temperature sensors available. ...