Integration of analog circuitry with digital logic often requires the addition of an extra supply rail or two. The excellent PSRR of precision op-amps (typically 100 dB) makes them unfussy about power rail variations. This simplifies power supply ...
Many PWM (pulse-width-modulated) applications, such as Class D audio amplifiers, require symmetric drive circuitry. Comprising complementary N- and P-channel FET devices with gates and sources connected, the textbook CMOS pair in Figure 1 provides ...
This design idea describes a high-current (up to 8 A) shunt-regulator built around the TLV431 low-voltage, adjustable, precision shunt-regulator IC. Special attention was paid to implementing this design as a two-terminal circuit block, greatly ...
I 2 C is a popular bidirectional serial communications bus having a clock and a data line. Both line’s drivers consist of an open drain ground-referenced N-channel MOSFET with a pullup resistor connected to a supply ranging from 1.8 V to 5 V. ...
It’s common for I 2 C systems to have both standard and fast devices on the same bus. For I 2 C systems, the speed and power consumption both depend on the values of pullup resistors: the values of them should be low enough to secure the fast ...
Although adequate for undemanding applications, the circuit suffers from several drawbacks which may limit its suitability. The Darlington’s current gain (which can vary considerably from device to device and with temperature) plays a ...
Awhile back I published a simple design idea for a thermal airspeed sensor based on a self-heated Darlington transistor pair (Ref, 1). The resulting sensor is simple, sensitive, and solid-state, but suffers from a radically nonlinear airspeed ...
A previous Design Idea [ 1 ] outlined a relatively simple circuit in which a momentary pushbutton could be made to function like a latching, mechanical switch. The article generated a good deal of reader feedback. Amongst other comments, readers ...
At the end of the DI for a Simple log-scale audio meter (Ref. 1), I promised to show how to upgrade it to work better. With these fixes, it now has near-digital performance, with faster response and smoother operation. Even this supersized version ...
When a design needs auxiliary voltage rails and the associated current loads are modest, capacitor pump voltage multipliers are often the simplest, cheapest, and most efficient way to make them. The simplest of these is the diode pump voltage ...