Measurement and process control loops often use 8-bit microcontrollers. The devices are inexpensive and widely available, and they can be programmed in many popular high-level languages like C and Basic. However, if the loop requires a nonlinear ...
Some voltage references can be used as shunt regulators, either by tying V IN and V OUT together or by leaving V IN open. These devices are limited to low currents, however, with a typical limit of around 10 mA. Standard Zener diodes serve the same ...
Numerous and evil are the forces of darkness that conspire to frustrate accurate analog-to-digital conversion of wide-dynamic-range analog signals. Among these gremlins lurk common-mode-voltage noise and signal amplitudes too variable to fully use ...
Linear Technology's recently introduced LTC4300 chip buffers I 2 C clock and data lines to and from a hot-swappable card. This task is difficult because the IC must work bidirectionally, meaning that you can simultaneously and actively drive ...
A previous Design Idea describes an astable multivibrator that gets hysteresis from the positive feedback stage using a technique you can characterize as positive-capacitive feedback ( Reference 1 ). It creates hysteresis by a charge transfer to ...
The circuit in Figure 1 is a variation on the familiar integrator/comparator triangle-wave oscillator, which you typically implement with two op amps. An integrator and a comparator connect in a positive-feedback loop; the comparator drives the ...
Nonlinear systems often need to become linear to be useful, and the circuit in Figure 1 provides a nonlinear sawtooth pulse for a PWM (pulse-width modulator) that can compensate for nonlinearities in sensors, controllers, or systems. The circuit ...
The simplest model of a battery comprises an ideal voltage source that connects in series with a resistance whose value often a few milliohms depends on the battery's electrochemical condition and construction. If you attempt to use an ordinary ...
Some op amps, such as the AD8041 from Analog Devices and the EL5100 from Intersil, provide a disable pin, which allows you to parallel the outputs of several op amps for video multiplexing. In addition to this multiplexing, you can also use the ...
An audio volume-unit meter displays peak-related audio amplitudes to aid in accurately setting recording levels or for displaying an amplifier's operating conditions. A simple diode and capacitor network provides a classic volume-unit ...