What is the most vulnerable component within an electronic design? Candidates would include anything with a moving part, such as a disk drive or fan, power supplies or fans which need strict control of temperature, and ICs which are sensitive to electrical noise.

  Connectivity is a key determinant of overall system reliability - and in harsh environments even more so. An understanding of connector types that provide the highest reliability in environmental extremes is an important consideration for designers.

  Technology moving from one market to another happens a lot. Industrial computing and processing hitherto based on closed and secure proprietary systems is increasingly embracing the possibilities of Internet-based communications and is even putting its toe into the exciting new pool known as the IoT.

Lithium batteries are found in a vast number of applications due to their superior lifetimes compared to other battery types. Lithium is the lightest of all metals, has the greatest electrochemical potential and provides the largest specific energy per weight. 

  The increasingly electronic nature of modern cars means that there are more automatic safety systems than ever before. These systems require accurate input about the car’s movement to determine when the car is moving (or will move) in a potentially unsafe way, in order to trigger the appropriate response, be it deploying the airbags or applying the handbrake.

  With modern electronic systems becoming more and more complex, demands on power systems are increasing rapidly. It’s now common for systems in every sector to incorporate more than one processor, FPGA or DSP – and all of these sub-systems have specific, conflicting power management requirements.

  How can MEMS pressure sensors help you keep fit? Well, they are now commonly being integrated into wearable activity monitors that help consumers track their daily activities and thereby monitor their fitness levels.

  A growing pre-occupation with leading healthier life styles means that many of us are becoming much more sensitive to the environment around us, and in particular air quality. There’s even a website dedicated to providing information about air pollution in London city and an inevitable smartphone app to keep you up to date with the facts on how quickly you’re being poisoned.

  Battery charging without cables can add convenience, durability and safety to a number of different applications. For example, smartphone charging on the go, such as in public places, or home charging stations that don’t require that search for the correct charging cable.

The invention of the micro switch goes back over 80 years to 1932 and is attributed to one Peter McGall of Freeport, Illinois, US. Giovanna Monari explains.

The Internet of Things is a common topic, as the next great wave of technology which will drive the electronics industry forward with 50 billion devices connected to the Internet by 2020, according to some experts. Alan Jermyn explains.

Avnet Silica, an Avnet company, announced it has joined the LoRa Alliance as an ‘Adopter’ member to support development, growth and adoption of networks based on the LoRa protocol (LoRaWAN) low-power wide-area networking technology (LPWAN). Prior to joining the LoRa, Avnet Silica had already built-in support for LoRaWAN via the company’s ‘Visible Things’ industrial IoT platform.

Avnet Abacus has been appointed European distribution partner by PUI Audio, one of North America’s largest providers of broadcast audio components. The deal extends the existing agreement between PUI and Avnet in the Americas.The distributor will provide design support to customers throughout Europe on PUI Audio’s range of acoustic audio devices, including the vendor’s new Audio Sound eXciters, Slim-Line Micro Speakers and forth...

Supercapacitors are an alternative to using a battery or indeed the more common-or-garden variety of capacitor in many energy storage applications, perhaps as backup power or for high-surge demand applications. Avnet Abacus' Adam Chidley explains.

Back in April 2014, at the Intel Developers Forum in Shenzhen, China, the USB Type-C connector made its debut. Now commercially available, the connector features a particularly significant technical advance – it’s vertically symmetrical so it doesn’t matter which way up you put the plug into the socket.

Since the 1990s, the external power supply has been the target of a series of regulations that are gradually being tightened around the world. Don Schriek, product marketing manager, Power EMEA, Avnet, examines what applies and where

The IoT phenomenon is allowing the collection of data from sensor nodes practically anywhere in the environment, and giving non-electronic objects the ability to communicate, opening up a whole sphere of applications for electronic systems. Selecting batteries for IoT connected systems can be tricky, as there is such a wide variety of application types.

Avnet Embedded presents its certified modular H1-A3 gateway computer family for Wind River XT IDP 3.1 and Microsoft Azure. Wind River XT IDP 3.1 is a customisable development environment that provides security, connectivity, rich network options and device management, simplifying the design, integration and deployment of gateways for the IoT.

  Although they’ve been superseded in some applications by newer technologies such as SSRs (Solid State Relays), EMRs (Electromechanical Relays) still have a lot to offer. Avnet Abacus' Mathias Goebel explains.

  Bigger is always better, isn’t it? That’s not necessarily the case when it comes to specifying an AC/DC power supply. Avnet Abacus' Don Schriek explains.