Articles and news - 7

Light an LED without wasting energy
Light an LED without wasting energy
Aug 25, 2025 Circuits

A typical LED-driver circuit uses a transistor to provide current and a series resistor to decrease the voltage you apply to the LED. Unfortunately, the energy (VSOURCE – VDIODE) × IDIODE in a transistor/resistor combination goes to waste...

Matchmaker
Matchmaker
Aug 24, 2025 Circuits

Precision-matched resistors, diode pairs, and bridges are generic items. But sometimes an extra critical application with extra tight tolerances (or an extra tight budget) can dictate a little (or a lot) of DIY...

simulated 100-MHz VFC
A simulated 100-MHz VFC
Aug 21, 2025 Circuits

Stephen Woodward, a prolific circuit designer with way more than 100 published Design Ideas, had his “80 MHz VFC with prescaler and preaccumulator” published on October 17, 2024...

Holtek new TinyPower low dropout voltage
Holtek new TinyPower low dropout voltage regulators with low quiescent current - HT75Rxx-1 and HT75Rxx-7
Aug 21, 2025 News

Holtek is delighted to announce the release of its new generation of low dropout voltage linear regulators with low quiescent current, the HT75Rxx-1 and HT75Rxx-7 series...

Flip ON Flop OFF high ish
Flip ON Flop OFF: high(ish) voltages from the positive supply rail
Aug 20, 2025 Circuits

We’ve seen lots of interesting conversations and Design Idea collaboration devising circuits for power switching using inexpensive momentary-contact SPST pushbuttons...

Nexperia releases industry first ESD protection
Nexperia releases industry's first ESD protection diodes for 48 V EV communications networks
Aug 19, 2025 News

Nexperia introduced the industry’s first ESD diodes designed to protect 48 V automotive data communications networks against the destructive effects of electrostatic discharge events...

How build LIDAR system time-to-digital converter
How to build a LIDAR system with a time-to-digital converter
Aug 18, 2025 Articles

In many applications, it is not possible to measure distance to the target by establishing a physical contact. Typical examples include measuring presence of objects on a conveyor belt in logistic centers, or ensuring safety distances around moving robot arms...

nice simple reasonably accurate PWM-driven 16-bit
A nice, simple, and reasonably accurate PWM-driven 16-bit DAC
Aug 14, 2025 Circuits

Implementing a simple digital-to-analog converter by cascading a single pulse width modulator and an analog low-pass filter is nothing new. Nor is applying to a filter the sum of the outputs...

practical design guide lightning detectors
A practical design guide for lightning detectors
Aug 13, 2025 Articles

Lightning is one of nature’s most intense and unpredictable forces, but thankfully, we have got technology to help us stay ahead of the storm...

Cross connect complementary current sources reduce
Cross connect complementary current sources to reduce self-heating error
Aug 12, 2025 Circuits

Lively discussions have sprung up here in editor Aalyia Shaukat’s Design Ideas regarding the limitations and quirks of, and design tricks for, the current control  topologies...