Digital circuit design is a critical part of electronics. In fact, most electronic components are digital electronic circuits. Even simple integrated circuits (ICs) contain thousands or hundreds of thousands of transistors. Microprocessors and microcontroller ICs typically have millions or billions of transistors. Most ICs are produced in fabs, but digital circuit designs can be made…

In a previous article, we discussed the fundamental concepts of a bipolar junction transistor (BJT), which are the building blocks of electronics. We covered the two types of BJTs—NPN and PNP—including their construction, I-V characteristics, circuit configurations, applications, and types.  Typically, transistors are used in a circuit or a circuit stage as a switch or an amplifier.…

Inductors are simple components in electronic devices that perform tasks like cleaning up electrical signals, helping with timing, and managing power. They store energy in magnetic fields when electricity flows through them and releases them back into the circuit. Inductors resist sudden changes in the flow of electricity, pushing back “spikes” by creating an electrical…

Renesas Electronics Corporation, a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, recently announced that it has developed circuit technologies for an embedded spin-transfer torque magnetoresistive random-access memory (STT-MRAM, hereinafter MRAM) test chip with fast read and write operations fabricated — using a 22-nm process. The test chip includes a 32-megabit (Mbit) embedded MRAM memory cell array and…

Infineon Technologies has introduced the industry’s first high-voltage microcontroller (MCU) with USB power delivery (USB PD) 3.1 support. The EZ-PD PMG1 (Power Delivery Microcontroller Gen1) is Infineon’s first generation of USB PD MCUs targeting any embedded system that provides or consumes power with high-voltage up to 28 V (140 W). The device supports higher power…

Nexperia, an expert in essential semiconductors, announced the world’s smallest and lowest profile 14,16, 20, and 24-pin packages for standard logic devices. For example, the 16-pin DHXQFN package is 45 percent smaller than the industry-standard DQFN16 leadless device. Not only has it a smaller footprint compared to competitors, but the new package also offers a…

You might have seen so many applications and circuits based on monostable multivibrator using IC555 like intruder alarm, automatic night lamp, smoke detector, fire alarm, automatic gate controller, object counter etc. In all such circuits monostable multivibrator is used. We may easily understand the operation of the circuit but many of us don’t know how such circuits are designed. So here I will try to explain how such circuits are designed using some examples.To detect the light we need any photo sensor and the LDR is one of the most convenient photo sensor. It works on photo conductivity principal. That means its resistance varies as light falls on it. In absense of light the resistance of LDR is maximum and as light intensity increases the resistance decreases. So we can use this property in designing this circuit. As the resistance of LDR changes, the voltage across it also changes and this voltage is used to trigger monostable multivibrator. 

You might have seen so many applications and circuits based on monostable multivibrator using IC555 like intruder alarm, automatic night lamp, smoke detector, fire alarm, automatic gate controller, object counter etc. In all such circuits monostable multivibrator is used. We may easily understand the operation of the circuit but many of us don’t know how such circuits are designed. So here I will try to explain how such circuits are designed using some examples.To detect the light we need any photo sensor and the LDR is one of the most convenient photo sensor. It works on photo conductivity principal. That means its resistance varies as light falls on it. In absense of light the resistance of LDR is maximum and as light intensity increases the resistance decreases. So we can use this property in designing this circuit. As the resistance of LDR changes, the voltage across it also changes and this voltage is used to trigger monostable multivibrator.