A 36-page handbook covers causes of ESD, typical ESD events, how to achieve real-life reliability and reduce warranty costs, and the test methods used for proving compliance with the standard.
All people can carry static electrical charges that are capable of damaging almost all types of semiconductors. Such personnel discharges can give rise to transient currents and electromagnetic fields that can interfere with almost every kind of electronic device, equipment or system. These personnel electrostatic discharges (ESD) and compliance with immunity standards, listed under the EMC Directive, are covered in a new handbook available free of charge from REO UK.

Because of the potential hazards such personnel electrostatic discharges (measured in kilovolts) can present, it also makes good sense to test products ability to withstand them, particularly in the case of safety-related, mission-critical or legal metrology electronic applications.

The basic test method is detailed in EN61000-4-2.

REO’s 36-page handbook covers causes of ESD, typical ESD events, how to achieve real-life reliability and reduce warranty costs, and the test methods used for proving compliance with the standard.

TDA Elektronic Technology has a new trademark.
TDA Elektronic Technology has a new trademark.

Now the letter T will be embossed on all its circuit protection devices, allowing users to easily identify TDA products from the rest.

The iCoupler family of digital isolators now includes the industry’s first products that provide both data and power isolation in a single package.
Analog Devices is extending its industry-leading family of iCoupler digital isolators with the industry’s first products that provide both data and power isolation in a single package. Unlike existing solutions that require the configuration of separate signal and power circuitry involving multiple components, this advancement provides designers of industrial, instrumentation, and power systems with a simple, low-cost, space-saving alternative. The products incorporate ADI’s new proprietary isoPower technology that integrates a micropower supply with independent signal channels.

This eliminates the need for complex, sizeable, and costly combinations of optocouplers, transformers and other components, thereby reducing cost by as much as 70% and board space by as much as 80%.

The ADuM5240, ADuM5241 and ADuM5242 are dual channel isolators incorporating isoPower technology.

These new products, provided in 8-lead SOIC (small-outline integrated circuit) packaging, integrate an isolated power supply with two digital signal channels to create a complete isolation solution for low-power applications found in factory automation equipment, instrumentation, and secondary control power supplies.

In such applications, where designers are under great pressure to reduce size, cost and development time, the ADuM524x product family simplifies the challenge of isolated designs with a single-component solution.

As with all iCoupler products, these new devices will carry regulatory safety approvals from the major North American and European agencies on product release.

‘ADI’s iCoupler digital isolation products have a solid five-year track record of safe, reliable operation in a wide variety of applications’.

‘Since 2001 when we first introduced the breakthrough iCoupler products, which proved far superior to optocouplers, iCoupler usage has grown to more than 50 million isolation channels in the field’, said Dick Meaney, Vice President, Precision Signal Processing Group, Analog Devices.

‘We are now leveraging our iCoupler technology to solve a challenging problem: isolating power along with data in a small space at a low cost’.

‘Our new iCoupler products with isoPower capabilities enable customers to achieve these savings as well as reduce development time’.

The ADuM524x products incorporate the isoPower technology, which integrates an isolated DC/DC convertor with two channels of digital signal isolation in an 8-lead SOIC.

Intended for low-power applications, the integrated DC/DC convertor provides up to 50mW of isolated, regulated power at 5V.

The ADuM524x devices operate with a supply voltage ranging from 2.7 to 5.5V with the internal DC/DC convertor enabled at supply voltages above 4.5V.

The signal channels have excellent timing specifications with propagation delay less than ns and channel-to-channel matching better than 3ns.

All three ADuM24x products carry a 2.5kV isolation rating.

Each product varies by the directionality of each channel.

The ADuM5240 has two signal outputs on the same side as the power output.

The ADuM5241, with signal channels in each direction, is ideal for bidirectional communications, such as an RS232 transceiver, that require isolated power for interface electronics.

The ADuM5242, with the two signal outputs on the same side as the power input, is ideal for power supply applications that employ secondary side control and require isolated power to initiate startup.

Isolation devices are used in a wide range of applications to protect people and equipment from unsafe voltage levels and disruptive noise sources.

Analog Devices’ iCoupler isolation technology employs chip-scale, micro-transformers in contrast to the LEDs and photodiodes used in optocouplers.

compared with optocouplers, iCoupler products consume less power, achieve higher datarates and provide more precise timing, yet still provide isolation ratings of up to 5kV.

Because the micro-transformer structures are integrated on semiconductor substrates, iCoupler products can achieve high levels of integration enabling greater functionality, smaller sise and lower cost.

Underscoring the scalability and flexibility of the iCoupler technology, isoPower is the latest development in ADI’s digital isolation product portfolio.

The ADuM524x digital isolators are sampling to lead customers now with samples to the open market scheduled for July 2006.

Each of the three devices is available in Pb-free 8-lead SOIC (small-outline integrated circuit) packaging and are priced at $2.95 per unit in 1000-piece quantities.

The Si844x is billed as the industry’s highest-performance easiest-to-use lowest-cost 2500V RMS digital isolator product family.
Silicon Laboratories has expanded its digital power product portfolio with the Si844x, the industry’s highest-performance, easiest-to-use, lowest-cost 2500V RMS digital isolator product family. The patent-pending Si844x uses chip-scale transformers fabricated in a standard, 100% CMOS to deliver a highly integrated four channel isolator that is one-third the size of competing optocoupler solutions reducing the bill-of-material cost by as much as 50%. The Si844x offers 50% faster datarates than existing digital isolators and consumes less than 12mA per channel at 100Mbit/s, making it ideal for applications such as switch mode power supplies, Ethernet/CAN networks and isolated analogue data acquisition.

The Si844x single-chip solution greatly simplifies circuit layout design compared with other isolation technologies implemented with multiple discrete components.

Based on a patented architecture, the Si844x achieves the highest level of performance using a unique RF encoding/decoding scheme that provides a robust isolated datapath and requires no special consideration or initialisation.

Whereas traditional isolation methods are notoriously slow and exhibit changing operating characteristics with temperature and time, the Si844x products are as much as 1500x faster than other isolation technologies and exhibit stable operating characteristics over temperature, supply voltage and time.

‘Silicon Laboratories’ Si844x digital isolators stand out as one of the more exciting new products’, said Chris Ambarian, Senior Analyst in Power Management with iSuppli.

‘iSuppli has long been saying that one of the real challenges to realising a lower system cost using digitalised power techniques would be to find a way to transfer a lot of data from layer to layer within the system, with negligible propagation delay and, of course, cost-effectively’.

‘It seems that Silicon Laboratories has just provided the missing link in our vision of exactly what the next generation of power hardware architectures need’.

‘The Si844x is an extension of Silicon Laboratories’ innovative digital power product portfolio and leverages patented technology to deliver highly integrated power solutions with unmatched performance’, said Don Alfano, Director of Power Products for Silicon Laboratories.

‘The digital isolator enables us to increase our offering to power supply customers by offering a single-chip, fully compliant solution that can be used in a variety of applications that require isolation, level shifting or ground-loop elimination’.

The product family includes the four-channel Si8440, Si8441 and the Si8442, all of which are offered in 16-pin wide-body small outline IC packages (SOIC) that are pin-for-pin compatible with competing solutions.

The Si8840 offers four forward channels whereas the Si8441 offers three forward channels and one reverse channel, and the Si8442 offers two forward channels and two reverse channels.

The Si844x products are fully specification compliant with Underwriters Laboratories UL1577 (USA), VDE Testing and Certification Institute VDE60747-5-2 (Europe) and CSA’s Component Acceptance Service CSA No 5A (Canada).

Pricing for the Si844x family begins at $2.44 in quantities of 1000.

Samples are available now and production is scheduled for Q2 2006.

Asiatronix is a new master European distribution company with an established network of distribution and agent companies covering all European countries.
Asiatronix is a new master European distribution company with an established network of distribution and agent companies covering all European countries. Each of these has wide technical and sales experience in circuit protection components. Asiatronix represents a number of high-quality and price-competitive Far Eastern manufacturers of fuses, varistors, thermal cutoffs and gas tube arrestors which are fully supported all over Europe.

The company’s warehouse and customer service operation are centralised in Milan, Italy.

The SL1411A Series is a new addition to the Delta family of gas plasma arresters designed for superior protection of outside plant equipment used in telecommunications applications.
New from Littelfuse, the SL1411A Series is a new addition to the Delta family of gas plasma arresters designed for superior protection of outside plant equipment used in telecommunications applications. Littelfuse’s new SL1411A Series is ideally suited for use in outside plant protector modules to meet the requirements of GR-1361, RUS PE-80, ITU K.12 and YD/T940, 950, 1082, 993, 694. Rated at 10kA/10A AC, the SL1411A is a two-terminal gas discharge tube specifically designed to protect highly exposed external equipment that typically demands high energy, long life and high durability protection devices.

Using newly enhanced materials, Littelfuse has created a durable device that combines a high surge rating with low voltage clamping not typically found in competitor devices.

The SL1411A joins the SL1026 Series (capable of dealing with surges up to 55kA) as part of the Delta family of high surge, high durability protectors.

The superior surge clamping capability of the SL1411A Series reduces the transient to the lowest possible level, minimising the need for telecomms system maintenance.

The SL1411A can be exposed to repetitive 10kA pulse while maintaining a stable breakover voltage.

This ensures the quality of protection while enduring multiple exposures to transients.

The combination of low clamping and a stable level of protection after multiple transient pulses helps prevent failure and damage to the outside plant applications, reducing the stress placed on secondary protection devices.

This helps to improve system up time and reduce repair costs.

The addition of the SL1411A Series supports the Littelfuse product strategy of offering a complete line of gas plasma arresters that provide protection across the entire telecomms equipment chain.

Surface mount devices are also currently available.

Littelfuse gas plasma surge arresters are lead-free and RoHS compliant.

Axial analogue isolators combine visible red LED emitters and a phototransistor detectors housed in separate opaque moulded plastic housings and coupled by shrouded optical cables.
Providing design engineers with the ability to transmit data from one high voltage potential to another at varying distances, TT electronics Optek Technology has developed an axial optical isolator designed to provide electrical isolation and data transfer. Designated the OPI1270 Series axial analogue isolator, the device consists of a visible red LED emitter and a phototransistor detector housed in separate opaque moulded plastic housings and coupled by a shrouded optical cable that gives the device extremely high noise immunity. The isolators are offered with standard lengths of 32, 40 and 80mm, and can be produced in custom lengths up to 10m or longer.

‘The OPI1270 Series devices were designed for applications that require high voltage isolation between input and output or transmission of a signal from one location to another on the same or adjacent PC board’, said Roland Chapa, Optek Technology’s Assemblies Business Unit director.

‘The heavy-duty opaque housing and shrouded cable shields the optical signal from dust, dirt, oil and other particles, making the isolator ideal for contaminated environments’.

The OPI1270 Series isolators are connected by a flexible optical cable in standard device lengths of 32, 40 or 80mm.

With this design, the emitter does not have to be precisely optically aligned with the sensor housing, Chapa explained.

Applications for the OPI1270 Series isolator include industrial, medical and office equipment, as well as electrical isolation circuits in harsh environments.

The OPI1270 Series isolators are rated for a minimum of 20kV isolation for the 32mm device, and carry a power dissipation rating of 100mW.

The AlInGaP LED (emitter) emits red light with a peak wavelength of 645nm, with on-state collector current ranging from 0.9 to 1.5V (forward current 20mA) and maximum collector dark current of 80mA (reverse voltage 3.0V).

The phototransistor (sensor) exhibits a maximum collector current of 50mA (VCE=10V, EE=0).

Minimum collector-emitter breakdown voltage is 33V, and minimum emitter-collector breakdown voltage is 5.5V (both measured at 100mA, EE=0).

The current transfer ratio for the device is typically 10% with a LED current of 20mA.

The operating temperature range is -20 to +85C, and the device is also compatible with high temperature soldering processes of 260C.

The OPI1270 Series isolators are RoHS-compliant.

Optek will also produce devices to meet customer requirements, including custom electrical specifications, as well as special connectors or cabling configurations.

Typical pricing for the OPI1270-032 isolator starts at $4.97 each in quantities of 1000 pieces, with samples available immediately.

Nothing less than 100% surge protection with 0% failure should be considered for demanding combat and support applications.
Military and homeland security agencies in the rely heavily on sophisticated electronics and integrated computer systems to defeat the enemy wherever it may be, at home or abroad. However, if left unprotected, many of these high end systems can be vulnerable to an enemy of their own - power surges. Understanding that protecting these high-end systems is critical and that lives depend on them, Zero Surge offers what it reckons to be the ultimate in powerline surge protection.

Nothing less than 100% surge protection with 0% failure should be considered for demanding combat and support applications.

For over 16 years, Zero Surge’s patented products have been providing unequalled, unfailing powerline surge protection for numerous industries.

For military, local or federal law enforcement, and homeland security applications that use servers and other interconnected computing devices and advanced surveillance and tracking equipment, Zero Surge’s power quality filters are especially suitable, ranging from the convenient stand-alone series to 15 and 20A rack mount units for systems integration.

All Zero Surge power filters are rugged and built to withstand the most demanding electrical environments.

‘High end electronics and advanced computer systems directly impact homeland security and our nation’s ability to defend itself from future attacks, as well as give the military the edge it needs in successfully completing operations abroad, especially in the Iraq war’, noted Rudy Harford, Chief Engineer of Zero Surge.

‘No matter how advanced, high tech or reliable these electronics may be, they still require a reliable power source, and Zero Surge offers the protection to ensure that’.

‘Anything less than the 100% protection and 0% failure that Zero Surge products offer should be unacceptable’, concluded Harford.

Unlike inferior competing products that shunt excess surge energy to the earth wire and use tiny, inexpensive metal oxide varistors (MOVs) to divert surge current, Zero Surge’s power quality filters perform as a tranquiliser on the surge current and absorb even the most destructive strikes, dissipating them harmlessly over the neutral wire, repeatedly.

In addition, Zero Surge’s non-MOV filters preserve ground wire integrity, which when used with servers and network systems, can help eliminate unwanted and annoying interference that can corrupt data.

Moreover, MOV-based surge suppressors have a history of overheating and causing fires.

When hit with powerful surges, MOVs have been known to explode, and they deteriorate with use, completely losing their effectiveness with no outward sign of the degradation.

Ensuring an added level of confidence, Zero Surge units will not wear out, and each one comes with a 10-year limited warranty and a lifetime service agreement.

The EClamp237xP family protect against ESD, EMI and RFI in 3G and CDMA phones that have high-resolution displays and video and digital camera features.
New from Semtech Corp, the EClamp237xP family of devices are designed to protect against the increased risk of electrostatic discharge (ESD) and increased levels of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI) in 3G and CDMA phones that have high-resolution displays and video and digital camera features. As manufacturers add more of these capabilities, they use more parallel data lines to connect the display and cameras to the baseband controller, increasing the amount of EMI and RFI that can distort display signals, and also increasing the ESD risk to the baseband controller. The EClamp237xP devices meet these challenges with IEC-standard levels of ESD protection, low capacitance and resistance, and a rugged package that consolidates more than 32 discrete components to help conserve board space in these space-constrained applications.

The new EClamp237xP family includes the four-line EClamp2374P, the six-line EClamp2376P and the eight-line EClamp2378P.

The devices feature a TVS diode on each line for ESD protection and a resistor-capacitor network for EMI/RFI filtering.

All models of the EClamp237xP family feature low series resistance of 100ohm combined with a capacitance of 20pF to deliver more than 30dB of attenuation from 1.8 to 2.5GHz.

The devices in the EClamp237xP family all feature very low clamping voltage to protect the sensitive baseband controller.

The devices are designed to protect and filter high-speed parallel interfaces that operate at speeds up to 60Mbit/s without signal degradation.

‘The high bandwidth of today’s LCD interfaces means that the nature of a protection device must change to provide high levels of protection without impacting the signal quality’, said Tom Dugan, Semtech Marketing Manager for Protection Products.

‘We’ve cut the resistance and capacitance dramatically in the EClamp237xP family compared with the competition in this space without impacting the device’s legacy of low clamping voltages and superior ESD protection’.

The EClamp237xP devices are packaged in the Semtech leadless package (SLP) that has the narrow form factor and manufacturing durability to replace ‘flip chip’ based alternatives.

All devices in the family feature a uniform narrow 1.6 mm width, and a uniform low 0.6mm profile but differ in length depending on the number of lines the device supports.

The EClamp237xP devices also feature a flow through design that alleviates the need for signal routing for a faster and more convenient layout.

EClamp237xP devices are RoHS/WEEE compliant to meet worldwide environmental and regulatory requirements.

EClamp237xP devices are available immediately in production quantities and are priced from $0.25 to $0.45 each in 10,000-piece lots.

Ordering codes are EClamp2374P.TCT for the four-line version, EClamp2376P.TCT for the six-line version and EClamp2378P.TCT for the eight-line version.

An integrated self-protected resettable electronic fuse uses a high side N-channel FET driven by an internal charge pump.
ON Semiconductor has announced a new member of its Smart HotPlug family with the introduction of the NIS5112 - an integrated self-protected, resettable, electronic fuse that uses a high side N-channel FET, driven by an internal charge pump. Designed for use in 12V systems, the NIS5112 provides a cost-effective inrush current limiting solution for hot swap applications such as enterprise class hard drives. ‘Utilising the NIS5112, a designer can implement a reliable feature-packed solution to inrush current limiting with only a few low-cost components’, said Barry Brinkman, Marketing Manager for ON Semiconductor’s Smart HotPlug products.

‘Prior to the introduction of this device, designers have had to implement a discrete solution that included up to 11 different components’.

Designed to allow the safe insertion and removal of equipment into 12V backplanes, the NIS5112 uses an internal SenseFET that enables active current limiting via inexpensive chip resistors instead of more expensive, low impedance current shunts.

Coupled with an adjustable voltage slew rate, the NIS5112 allows the designer the versatility to easily select the level at which current is limited and the rate the output voltage comes up for multiple applications.

The NIS5112 has an input voltage range of 9 to 18V and also provides overvoltage protection intended to allow operation through transients while protecting the load.

This device also contains circuits to control the turn-on voltage, output current, die temperature, turn-on di/dt and turn-on dV/dt, as well as an enable/timer function.

It offers robust thermal protection circuit in two different thermal limit versions, auto-retry and latch off.

The NIS5112D1R2G (latch) and NIS5112D2R2G (retry) are offered in a lead free, SO-8 package and priced at $1.15 per unit in 2500-unit quantities.