Bill Schweber, Freelance Journalist Profile

Articles

Gate drivers — the critical link in power-device performance: part 2 - Power Electronic Tips

3 days ago | powerelectronictips.com | Bill Schweber

Thus far, we have examined the general issue of power devices and their characteristics. This part goes into the details of the power-device gate driver. To drive current into the gate, the positive rail’s voltage should be high enough to ensure full saturation/enhancement of the power switch, but without exceeding the absolute maximum voltage for its gate.
Does “quality” really matter anymore?

1 week ago | eeworldonline.com | Bill Schweber

Many products now fail after just a few years, and we seem to be OK with that. I have been thinking about a simple question: what has been the trend in consumer product quality over the past few years and decades for electronic-centric and electromechanical products? Unfortunately, this very basic question has no definitive answer.
110-V Op Amp Drives High Voltages and Currents into Capacitive Loads

1 week ago | electronicdesign.com | Bill Schweber

What you'll learn: The ADHV4710 op amp operates on dual supplies from ±12 to ±55 V, delivering output current of ±100 mA at the higher voltages. A ±1,300-V/μs output slew rate into capacitive loads up to 1 nF (1000 pF). The 80-pin, 12- × 12-mm TQFP EPAD-up package greatly reduces thermal-management constraints on the PCB layout. Many operational amplifiers ( op amps) are used at low signal levels-think of sensors or even RF preamplifiers.
Gate drivers — the critical link in power-device performance: part 1 - Power Electronic Tips

1 week ago | powerelectronictips.com | Bill Schweber

Effective MOSFET/IGBT-device switching depends on the gate driver and its power supply. From power supplies and motor drives to charging stations and myriad other applications, switching power semiconductors such as silicon (Si), silicon carbide (SiC), and gallium nitride (GaN) MOSFETs, as well as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), are the key to efficient power-system designs. However, to achieve maximum performance from the power device, an appropriate gate driver is needed.
舊屋限電實錄：現代家庭能靠50安培撐嗎？ - 電子技術設計

1 week ago | edntaiwan.com | Susan Hong |Bill Schweber

作者 : Bill Schweber 在現代家電普及的家庭中，100安培以上的電力配置已成常態。但若臨時降載至僅有50安培，家庭運作還能維持嗎？當今的住宅配電通常至少為100安培，許多甚至達到兩倍以上。這是合情合理的，畢竟現代家庭擁有各式各樣的家電與電子裝置。如果你家還有電爐或電動車並使用基本的室內一級(Level 1)充電器，用電需求自然更高。對於用電需求的認識，是從一位鄰居為房屋進行小型擴建時詢問我的意見開始的。情況是這樣的：承包商告知他，因為某些原因，在施工期間(約一至兩個月內)，原有超過100安培的電力供應將暫時降為50安培。降載的原因並不明確，只說與電纜容量有關。他的問題很簡單：他們一家四口(夫妻加上即將進入青少年的兩個孩子)是否能僅靠50安培生活？如果不行，能採取哪些措施以減少生活干擾？其實，他原本的用詞是「撐得下去嗎」(survive)而非「能否應付」(manage)，我認為那太戲劇化了。半定量分析...
Long-wire dipole antennas: still viable after more than a century

1 week ago | eeworldonline.com | Bill Schweber

The long-wire dipole antenna is effective for low-frequency systems. Adding LC traps makes a single-band dipole antenna into a multiband unit. The historically significant long-wire dipole antenna may seem like an anachronism in these days of compact, highly mobile wireless devices operating in the gigahertz spectrum, but that’s not the case at all.
Tech-transfer flip: enabling deep-physics research

2 weeks ago | eeworldonline.com | Bill Schweber

Historically, technical innovations and advances began in a more rarified environment of academic research or military projects, then filtered down and expanded to the mass markets as their manufacturing processes advanced and costs decreased. As one example, consider the resistor-transistor logic (RTL) NOR-gate integrated circuits used for the Apollo moon-mission navigation computer, shown in Figure 1. They cost about $100 each, and this is in 1960s dollars.
Vernier Optical Combs Plus Heterodyned Electronics Yield Atomic Clock

2 weeks ago | electronicdesign.com | Bill Schweber

What you'll learn: There are significantly different architectures for what are known as "atomic" clocks. Optically driven atomic clocks offer a new set of performance attributes. The optical atomic clocks use paired but asynchronous optical combs in a Vernier arrangement to downconvert the clock signal to the more manageable RF band.
TEG energy harvesting: hype or hope?

2 weeks ago | edn.com | Bill Schweber

I like to follow energy-harvesting research developments and actual installations, as there are many creative approaches and useful applications. In many cases, harvesting has solved a power-source problem effectively and with reasonable cost versus benefit. At the same time, however, I see energy harvesting as often being oversold at best and overhyped at worst.
Long-wire dipole antennas: still viable after more than a century

2 weeks ago | 5gtechnologyworld.com | Bill Schweber

The long-wire dipole antenna is effective for low-frequency systems. Adding LC traps makes a single-band dipole antenna into a multiband unit. The historically significant long-wire dipole antenna may seem like an anachronism in these days of compact, highly mobile wireless devices operating in the gigahertz spectrum, but that’s not the case at all.