Analog IC Tips

By Todd Burkholder, Sudarshan Deo, and Muhammad Hassan, Siemens EDA The relentless pursuit of artificial intelligence (AI) innovation has ushered in an era of unprecedented computational demand, pushing the boundaries of traditional silicon architecture. As Moore’s Law decelerates, the industry faces a critical juncture where conventional 2D monolithic designs can no longer meet the escalating requirements for bandwidth, latency, and power efficiency demanded by next-generation AI workloads.

Mini-Circuits has announced two GaN-on-SiC HEMT MMIC power amplifiers, GNA-63-5W+ and GNA-252-5W+, for defense, communications, satellite and test systems. The GNA-63-5W+ operates from 10 MHz to 6 GHz with typical saturated output power of +38.5 dBm, 12 dB gain and 35% PAE, while the GNA-252-5W+ covers 10 MHz to 2.5 GHz with typical saturated output power of +40 dBm, 13.5 dB gain and 47% PAE.

Ironwood Electronics has released a spring pin test socket built for 3x3mm QFN packages on a 0.4mm pitch, aimed at engineers doing device characterization and screening at the smaller end of the QFN family. The socket uses a low-inductance spring pin contact rated for 10 GHz bandwidth, which keeps signal integrity intact for RF and high-speed digital testing rather than degrading it the way some low-cost socket contacts do at fine pitch.

Phase Locked Loop, PLL, DPLL, ADPLL, VCO, Phase Detector, Loop Filter, Closed Loop, and Synthesizer. The PLL is inherently a dynamic device, tracking inputs and dealing with transients and upsets. A PLL operates through three primary dynamic states: Free-running mode: The VCO operates at its free-running “natural” frequency before lock. Capture: The PLL actively pushes toward the reference frequency based on the loop bandwidth and as it attempts to lock.

Each of the three topologies of this versatile system building block has its place in modern systems. The phase-locked loop (PLL) plays a vital role in many electronic systems and circuits. It has been used in various forms since the 1930s, providing diverse functions, all related to timing, clocking, frequency synthesis, synchronization, and signal recovery.

Nuvoton Technology Corporation has announced the NAU83G60YG stereo smart audio amplifier with Klippel Controlled Sound (KCS) nonlinear adaptive speaker control technology for conference speakerphones, smart speakers, professional monitoring speakers and automotive audio systems.

From humanoids catching shifting loads to predicting GPU board failures, Paul Golding of Analog Devices explains how to partition intelligence across a physical system without letting hallucinations touch the hardware. “Physical AI” is everywhere lately, though nobody seems to agree on exactly where its boundaries are. The phrase grew up in the robotics community, where the physical parameters that matter most are kinematic: navigating a Cartesian world without running into things.

Siemens has launched SIMATIC AX WinCC Unified Elements, an engineering application for the SIMATIC WinCC Unified system that supports code-based visualization development in the United States. The application lets automation engineers generate projects from human-readable YAML files, use Git-based version control and work across graphical and code-editing environments. It is designed for manufacturers adopting IT-style software workflows for HMI and visualization projects on the plant floor.

By Fernando Auñón, Fernando Rodríguez, Sergio Sepúlveda, David Olalla TDK Electronics For engineers to predict the real-world performance of film capacitors, it’s crucial to understand the electromagnetic and thermal behavior of film capacitors that serve as DC links, filters, and energy buffers. The precision of the design in power electronics determines performance, reliability, and cost.

Ironwood Electronics has released a spring pin socket for BGA500 devices intended for 23 x 23 mm packages with 0.5 mm pitch. The socket features a double-latch lid and is designed for device testing and evaluation applications.