What Is

Integrated Circuits rule the world of electronics. Electronic components are available either in discrete or integrated form. The discrete form is reserved for standalone components only, like a transistor, diode, resistor, capacitor, or inductor. It is the ICs that actually made electronics so popular and ubiquitous it is today. All sorts of circuits – analog,…

The electronics industry has always focused on miniaturization. This miniaturization was driven by the desire to integrate maximum logic in minimum dimensions. Still, in 2021, the industry is not prepared for the end of Moore’s law, despite a gradual rise in the R&D costs to continue along this path. The ability of transistor logic to…

Integrated circuits (ICs) are synonymous with electronics. Wherever there are any electronics, there are definitely one or more ICs. There are no electronics without ICs. Electronics became so popular, widely acceptable, and ubiquitously applicable, all due to the invention of integrated circuits. Integrated circuits are miniaturized integration of complete electronic circuits on a single semiconductor…

Fingerprint scanners, which were once reserved for biometric logging systems and attendance systems, are now part of regular smartphones and much more. Fingerprints have been a trusted method of personal identity. Combined with face id or other biometric identification systems like retina scanning, fingerprints offer an impeccable way to recognize any person. With a blast…

Internet of Things already has billions of devices by 2021. This globe-spanning network of sensors and consumer devices holds the future of a human-machine world. Well, financial transactions are all-important in a world of humans. IOTA is a cryptocurrency designed to add economics to the internet of machines. IOTA is quite different from thousands of…

Cryptocurrencies are getting popular day by day. Bitcoin was the first-ever cryptocurrency and is the most popular one right now. At present, there are more than 6700 cryptocurrencies around the world. In the future, where the world may go cashless with different kinds of electronic money, and all financial transactions may become digital, cryptocurrencies have…

The Internet commenced as a medium to share files remotely. It didn’t take time to flourish as the most popular globe-spanning communication network for sharing information, messages, and all kind of data. With the evolution of technology, the internet is now the one-stop solution for everything. The Internet made the computers, and then the mobile…

As electronic miniaturization has been an all-time goal of chip manufacturers, motherboard-based computer/electronic systems have been eventually replaced by System-on-Chip (SoC) and Package-on-Package (PoP) ICs. Complex computer systems are now condensed to smartphones and other handheld devices. These sophisticated electronic devices and gadgets have an SoC at their heart which manages complete computing and control.…

Current feedback (CFB) operational amplifiers (op amps) and voltage feedback (VFB) op amps have almost as many similarities as differences. CFBs and VFBs both have inverting and non-inverting inputs, a signal output, inputs for positive and negative voltage supplies and use feedback and gain resistors to stabilize circuit operation and set circuit gain. That can…

Light sensors or photosensors, which are designed to measure light intensity, are one of the most commonly used sensors in electronic applications. Light intensity is one of the seven base physical quantities. The measurement of light intensity is useful in many consumer, industrial, and security applications. What is a light sensor? A light sensor is…

Smart homes need wireless connectivity, and Z-wave has emerged as the ultimate solution for home automation. The Z-wave protocol is a wireless, radio frequency protocol designed primarily for smart home networks. All the existing wireless communication protocols had one or the other problem. Bluetooth and Zigbee often shortfall of range while Wi-Fi poses its own…

Data communication over analog signals is a common process. In automation, the data is communicated to and from controllers with several different process instruments. Quality is important as the controllers and smart instruments must communicate over long distances.  Additionally, the data communication between a device and a controller must be dictated by a protocol (i.e.…

An integrated circuit, or an IC, is a miniature circuit made up of thousands or even billions of transistors. It can be described as a set of electronic circuits fabricated on a semiconductor material. Usually, this material is silicon. The integration of MOS transistors leads to chips being faster, smaller in size, and less expensive…

A System on Chip or an SoC is an integrated circuit that incorporates a majority of components present on a computer. As the name suggests, it is an entire system fabricated on a silicon chip. The beauty of an SoC is that it integrates all the components on a single substrate. In semiconductors, a substrate…

Inertial sensors are used to transduce inertial force into measurable electrical signals to measure acceleration, inclination, and vibration of an object. Micromachining technology has made it possible to produce MEMS (Micro Electromechanical System) inertial sensors using single-crystal silicon sensor elements. These micron-sized sensors meet all major system design drivers like low-cost, high performance, high precision,…

A transformer is an apparatus for converting electrical power in an ac system at one voltage or current into electrical power at some other voltage or current without the use of rotating parts. Transformers have been an essential component in electrical as well as electronic circuits. Apart from stepping up or stepping down the voltages, they are used for providing isolation, for impedance mismatch and so on. Development of new technologies has reduced the usage of transformers, but still they are quite vital in many applications.