At Knowles, it is our mission to provide specialty components that meet even the toughest performance and reliability requirements, especially for applications where failure is not an option. But, markets and requirements are constantly changing, which means we must closely monitor the trends impacting all the industries and applications where you might find our components. One area where we are seeing rapid innovation spanning the industries we serve is power electronics. At a high level, the trends driving power electronics innovation are largely centered around methods for providing more energy more efficiently while using smaller components. Below are four key power electronics trends we are currently monitoring and a how we can help you stay on top of each trend with your designs.  

To help PCBs and other physically connected components survive vibration, board bending, thermal mismatching, and stress during thermal cycling, Knowles Precision Devices has launched a range of leaded standoff components, Metal Frame J-Lead Terminal MLCCs, that are qualified to AEC-Q200. AEC-Q200 is the global standard for stress resistance in passive electronic components in automotive applications. 

This is the second installment in our RF Components for Radar series. In the first installment, we provided an overview of the key functional units in radar, including duplexing, filtering, power amplification, waveform generation, low-noise amplification (LNA), receiving and analog-to-digital conversion (ADC). Here, we’ll focus on duplexing.  

Given that snubber capacitors address the negative impacts of switching, it’s no surprise that they’re most commonly found in switching power supplies. These systems face major challenges from switching, including: 

• Switching transients 
• Parasitic elements 
• High-frequency noise 

It’s been an incredibly exciting year to lead the Precision Devices division and support our talented employees as they innovate on and push the boundaries of the specialty components these markets require. 

Radar systems are designed to detect and identify an object’s location. They use short bursts of energy to transmit radio frequency (RF) and microwave signals and gather information from the echoed signal returned by the object.  

Here, we’ll introduce radar, including its key functional units and technological evolution. 

Capacitors serve many crucial functions in power electronic circuits. Their ability to store electric charge makes them essential components for regulating and smoothing power flow. 

Many of these capacitors are standard fare, but a few play highly specialized, functional roles. To meet application-specific demands, these capacitors must be selected carefully based on function, size, and interoperability. 

Before jumping into a discussion on ceramic coaxial resonators, it is important to understand what a resonator is and how these electrical components work. In general, a resonator is an essential component for constructing a bandpass filter since the resonator is what will allow specified frequencies, or bands of frequencies, to pass through the filter as shown in Figure 1.

Digital and connected healthcare methods are getting better and better at harnessing the full potential of today’s advanced medical technologies and popular consumer devices. This combination is evolving standard healthcare delivery for the digital age. While these technologies still pose privacy, security and access challenges, they’ve made significant strides. The vision of a less hospital-centric, and more patient-centric, system is starting to crystallize.

In 2023, our experts continued their commitment to teaching engineering basics and sharing their insights into the latest industry trends and challenges. Hopefully, you’ve found our lessons and insights valuable. We appreciate that you turn to us to learn about the industry, and we take your readership seriously.