1. The Really Big Event is Right Around the Corner
   
2. Don't Miss the 2011 PSMA Annual Meeting
   
3. Meet Your Directors
   
4. About Our Members
   
5. Welcome To PSMA
   
6. Power Management Professionals Group on Linkedin - The Power Network
   
7. Top 5 Predictions for the Power Markets
   
8. Mobile Apps Envision Merger of RF and Power Functions on a Single Chip
   
9. PSMA Launches New Website
   
10. Solar Energy Stock Index Q4 2010
    
11. Solar Energy DealReader Q4 2010
    
12. Events Of Interest - Mark Your Calendar
    

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

Previous issues of update: Q2_2010 | Q3_2010 | Q4_2010

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PSMA UPDATE is published and distributed via e-mail quarterly by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. Send editorial information and comments to:

Permission to reprint information and articles as published is granted: a courtesy line is appreciated.

Membership in PSMA is open to any organization or corporation involved in the power sources and supplies industry. For membership information, visit our website or contact us by fax, telephone or email.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

 

This year’s plenary session will feature presentations by Dr. Slobodan Cuk, founder and chairman of TESLAco, Dr. Dushan Boroyevich of Virginia Tech, Brian Patterson of Emerge Alliance, Aung Tu of Fairchild Semiconductor, Dr. Burkhard Huhnke, Director of VW of America’s Research Labs, Tim McDonald of International Rectifier and Anastacio Baez of NASA.  And that’s just Monday afternoon’s program!

APEC 2011 will feature a solid technical program with over 300 peer-reviewed papers, professional education seminars, and special presentation sessions plus the ever-popular “rap” sessions and micro-mouse competition. APEC 2011 will also feature a lively exhibit environment where companies will display the latest in power electronics hardware, software, services and publications.

Super Bowl is truly a great event but it’s just a game. One team wins, the other doesn’t. APEC is the Premier Global Event in Applied Power Electronics. It’s where real winners meet the real world. Be part of the celebration. See you in Fort Worth.

For complete information and to register to attend, please visit www.apec-conf.org.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2011 Publicity Chair

An important activity at the Annual Meeting is the election of Directors. Each year the terms of four of the twelve Directors expire and an election is held to fill the vacancies. After the election, PSMA Chairman Dusty Becker will review the activities of the Association over the past year. The Chairman’s report will be followed by a financial report and forecast and updates from each of the PSMA Technical Committees.

Patrick Chapman, APEC General Chair APEC 2011 will report on how the conference is shaping up and Frank Cirolia, General Chair for APEC 2012, will provide a look ahead on the plans for the next APEC in Orlando, FL.

The Annual Meeting will also feature three invited well known guest speakers to provide a brief update on topics of current interest to PSMA members.

You will also have the opportunity to meet some of the 30 students currently enrolled in universities around the world that will receive monetary awards from PSMA to cover some of their expenses for attending APEC. 

Go to the PSMA website to see the schedules of technical committee meetings, PSMA organized Special Presentations and other activities of interest to PSMA members that will be taking place during APEC 2011. While at APEC, be sure to visit the PSMA exhibit booth for the latest information – we look forward to meeting you.

our members of the PSMA Board of Directors are elected at the Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. Each Director serves a three year term and is eligible to be reelected for one additional term.

We would like you to meet Arnold Alderman, who is currently serving his second consecutive term as a member of the PSMA Board of Directors.

Arnold Alderman is president of Anagenesis, Inc., which he founded in 2001. He has been involved in PSMA activities since 1996.  During that time, Arnold has been a Board member for 11 years. He has held various offices including Board Chairman in 2004 and 2005. He is currently a member of the Nanotechnology, Semiconductor, Energy Efficiency, and Packaging committees.  The many projects in which Arnold has participated include PSiP2PwrSoC Phase I in 2008 , PSiP2PwrSoC Phase II in 2009, Technology Roadmap Workshops 1997, 2003 and 2008, the EPRI/PSMA Workshop "Follow the Power" in 2007, Silicon Integration Product and Technology Report in 2002, the Silicon Integration Workshop also in 2002, and the Power Supply Benchmark Report in 1999. Present projects that he is participating in include the Power Technology Roadmap for 2011.

His continued vision for PSMA "...is for PSMA to make significant contributions to our members and the industry in general and for PSMA to further develop as a 'voice of the industry' regarding the technical and business challenges that confront us. PSMA is just as exciting, even perhaps more exciting than when I first joined. Presently, I am very much involved in helping our industry understand the important impact that nanotechnology will have on our products in the future. I encourage each of our members to pick a committee that is doing work that you are interested in, roll up your sleeves, and join them.

Arnold has 16 years of experience in product and strategic marketing for power semiconductor discrete and hybrid products at Fairchild Semiconductor and International Rectifier. In addition, he had 12 years prior experience in design of commercial power-conversion equipment, from 2 watts to 12 MVA, in a broad variety of applications including ac-dc power supplies, battery chargers, ac motor control, dc motor control, induction heating converters, and electronic ballast.

Arnold Alderman holds a B.S.E.E. from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and M.B.A. from the University of New Haven, in Connecticut. He holds one patent, and is co-inventor of three others.

Provided by Arnold Alderman,
President, Anagenesis, Inc.

Dusty Becker is serving his second consecutive term as a member of the PSMA Board of Directors and is the current Chairman of the Board.

Dusty Becker is Vice President of Technology, Emerson Network Power - Energy Systems, a position he has held since 2004.

Dusty has been involved in the design and development of dc Rectifiers, dc-dc Converters, and dc Power Systems for both indoor and outdoor applications since joining Emerson in 1968.  He has held the positions of Engineer, Design Engineer, Staff Engineer, R&D Manager, Director of Engineering, VP of Operations, VP of Systems Engineering, VP of Product Development, and currently VP of Technology.

His current focus is new technology directions in the dc power arena, including high power delivery systems as well as 380Vdc distribution.

Dusty holds three patents and has two patents pending.  He is the author of over 30 technical papers and magazine articles on the subject of dc power conversion and distribution.

In addition to being the Chairman of the PSMA Board of Directors and is also the co-Chair of the PSMA Energy Efficiency Committee.

Dusty also sits on the NEMA Energy Storage Technical Committee as well as the recently formed IEC TAG for IEC Smart Grid Standardization and is a member of the Green Grid technical committee.

Provided by Dusty Becker, Vice President of Technology,
Emerson Network Power - Energy Systems 

strodyne Corporation designs, manufactures and solves power conversion challenges worldwide by offering a broad assortment of ac-dc switchers, ac-dc adapters, dc-ac inverters and dc-ac power supplies and features the ability to customize or modify standard parts to fit your needs.  Astrodyne is a leading source of power and sells its products to design engineers and OEMs. 

Currently, Astrodyne carries over 4,000 cost-effective standard and modified power supplies and is continuously expanding its offerings to meet new industry standards and application requirements.  Astrodyne's products are grouped into 11 families of power supply products that span a broad array of markets and application solutions for Commercial, Medical, LED, Alternative Energy, and Military/Aerospace industries. Most items are in stock and ready to ship the same or next business day and backed by some of the best warranties in the business.

Astrodyne's ability to provide a broad product offering, superior technical & customer support, and rapid order fulfillment are core competencies that have enabled Astrodyne to establish itself as an industry leader. Astrodyne's key competitive advantage lies in its ability to provide its customers a broad range of standard power supplies that are available off-the-shelf, along with the ability to modify these designs to meet specific customer requirements.

Astrodyne's products meet or exceed Worldwide Safety and EMC specifications. In addition, every power supply is burned-in for reliability and ATE tested to assure compliance to specifications. Our quality engineers continuously monitor all phases of manufacturing and test to assure that all our products deliver the quality and performance our customers expect.

For more information about Astrodyne Corporation and its products, please visit the company's web site at Astrodyne.com.

Provided by Peter Resca,
Vice President – Sales & Marketing,
Astrodyne Corporation

Power Solutions designs, manufactures and supports products and capabilities that provide higher reliability, efficiency and quality while maintaining low risk, cost, size and weight. Our Power Solutions are marketed to the high reliability industrial, commercial aerospace, defense and space markets via our brands: ELDEC, Interpoint and Keltec. We provide both Standard Power Products and Custom Power Products through facilities located in Redmond and Lynnwood, Washington; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; and Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Power Solutions products are used in applications from post-generator to point-of-use, spanning a range from > 100 kW to < 10 W.  Our products are used to provide power to or within electronic systems on a variety of commercial aerospace, military and space platforms.
Our Power solutions meet the current and future needs of our customer's applications:

Power for Avionics, Weapons and Utilities Our standard and custom products power the internal computational and user interface circuits for communication, display, mission computing, flight controls, weapons systems and utilities such as aircraft environmental controls.

Power for ISR (Electronic Warfare & Radar)Low voltage solid-state or high voltage traveling wave tube (TWT) based high power products and subsystems for mission critical defense platform and payload applications. High power quality interface to aircraft sources using active or passive means to limit total harmonic distortion.

Secondary Power Low weight, high power quality and high efficiency platform secondary power distribution and management based on proprietary technology. We can provide significant weight and volume savings through integrated power conversion, bus control, and power control.

Energy Storage
Delivering safe integration of energy storage devices, including sealed lead-acid, NiCad and Lithium Ion batteries and integrated battery management systems into aircraft secondary electrical systems while providing the longest maintenance interval and service life at the lowest weight.

Provided by Ernie Parker,
Director of Technology Development
Crane Aerospace & Electronics | Crane Electronics, Inc. - Power Solutions 

Editor's Note: We would like to feature your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for information about how to submit an article for consideration.

We are pleased to welcome four new member companies this quarter. We hope your company is a member. To learn about the benefits of membership, please visit our web site www.psma.com.

Gleneagles Technologies Ltd.
Donovan Davidson
6144 Gleneagles Drive
West Vancouver, BC V7W-1W3
Canada
E-Mail: gleneaglestech@telus.net

Gleneagles Technologies Ltd. is a consulting company that designs power electronic equipment for various clients, conducts research into various areas of power electronics and provides recommendations on manufacturing of power electronics and magnetics.

 

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Haining Lianfeng Dongjin Electronics Co., Ltd.
Vijay Wang
No 1, Rd 5, Yanguan Town
Haining, Zhejiang 314412
China
E-Mail: lianfeng.vijay@hotmail.com

Haining Lianfeng Dongjin Electronics Co., Ltd. is located in the center of Haining City, Zhejiang Province. Their main products are transformers, inductors, filters and choke coils which are applied in LED, LCD, CRT, PDP, computers, communication, lighting, DVD players and switching power supplies.

Haining Lianfeng Dongjin Electronics has an experienced staff of over 1600 staff members. All of them have 4-6 years of experience in transformer and inductor production. They quote in 24 hours and confirm in 48 hours, take delivery in 72 hours. They design the products according their customers' requirements.

Integrated Device Technology, Inc.
Daniel J Lenskold
4424 Innovation Drive
Fort Collins, CO 80525
E-Mail: dan.lenskold@idt.com
Web Site: www.idt.com

Integrated Device Technology, Inc., founded in 1980, delivers system-level innovations that optimize customers' applications and enrich the end-user experience. The IDT 30+ year heritage and leadership in digital technologies, coupled with its in-house analog talents and capabilities, make IDT the premier analog and digital company. IDT builds upon its leadership positions in timing, serial switching and interfaces to expand its mixed-signal content in Communications, Computing and Consumer applications. By adding analog and system expertise to its traditional digital competencies, IDT is providing its customers with complete application-optimized mixed-signal solutions. Headquartered in San Jose, California, IDT has design, manufacturing and sales facilities throughout the world.

Because people need faster access to digital media content, IDT helps streamline communications system design by identifying the bottlenecks that affect rapid delivery of digital media as it travels along the network. Using our central position as a crucial supplier to the OEMs that power the network, combined with feedback from customers and partners, IDT has the ability to view many sides of each problem. IDT technology performs fundamental core tasks, such as ensuring complete data transmission, so that network and application specific processors can more efficiently meet system demands.

Unipower
Alan Rockenbach
3900 Coral Ridge Drive
Coral Ridge, FL 33065
E-Mail: alanr@unipowercorp.com
Web Site: www.unipower-corp.com

UNIPOWER Corporation is a leader in high-density, low profile and hot swap power solutions for telecoms, datacoms, network equipment, servers, data storage, industrial and medical systems.

Headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida, UNIPOWER manufactures there as well as at its European HQ at Lancing, West Sussex, U.K. The company manufactures mainly at its dedicated high volume manufacturing plant in Guangdong, China.

Unipower produces a complete line of switching power supplies and fault-tolerant power systems up to 10,000 watts. The product line includes cased and open frame switchers, bulk power front ends, modular/configurable switchers, hot-plug and N+1 redundant switchers. Standard, modified standard and custom products are produced.

Unipower specializes in state-of-the-art technologies for switching power supplies. Its products feature small size and high power density. The company's design technologies include power factor correction, universal input, active load sharing, N+1 redundant operation, warm- and hot-swap operation, modularity, interface control and monitoring circuitry, high-density packaging, high-efficiency operation, and efficient thermal design.

Unipower's product quality program is based on four principles: a proactive approach, process repeatability, ISO9001 certification, and company culture and teamwork. Company facilities are certified to ISO9001:2000 quality standards.

 
 

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Editors Note: Alpha Scientific Electronics, Enphase Energy and Inventronics were approved for membership in PSMA too late to be included in this issue of the Update. They will be featured in the next issue.

The Power Management Professionals Group is an independent social network created by Bryan Rogers of Elite Professional Solutions, a power management search firm. This is a network specially developed for the power supply/electronics community. According to the web site posting: "This group was formed for the purpose of facilitating networking between technical professionals involved in semiconductor power management, power electronics, analog design, motor control, motor drive, power supply design, inverter design, wind power, solar power or alternative energy."

The PMP Group was started in April 2008 and has grown significantly to more than 5000 members. The online forum with the enthusiasm and active participation by the members are the best part of the PMP Group. Although the group is open and can be joined by anybody interested in the power industry, it is dominated by power engineers who like to share ideas, pose questions and get answers for practical problems. Mr. Rogers, a well-respected power electronics industry professional with almost 30 years of experience monitors the forum for the relevancy of the topic and participant's direction, but does not control the content. This is a free forum with open discussion and exchange of ideas. There is no censorship.

The best part of this online group is that it is has become a useful way to find answers to many power electronics/power supply related practical problems that can include a wide variety of questions. These can range from technical questions such as: "6MHz Buck DC-DC converter: Good or bad?" to commercial questions such as: "Does anyone know of a commercially available open frame power supply, preferably universal input (120Vac, 60Hz will do), constant current output in the 3 amp dc range capable of going up to 250Vdc?" Getting answers and opinions from the world community is an emerging experience of this technical social network. The PMP Group is social network of the world community and one can get different view point from world over, where power conditions can be different. For example, many developing countries have much wider swings in the input voltage than normally perceived in the developed countries and where blackouts and brownouts are more frequent so that design and application rules may be different.

By being a participant in the discussion forum one can also get the pulse of the power industry trends and enthusiasm from the questions and their responses. For example, one of the most active forums is related to "Digital Controlled Converters." This is an ongoing discussion forum with more than 300 comments. Though the topic of digital control has been applied in power supply design technology for many years, from the ongoing discussion of this topic, one can surmise that the discussion is far from over. Many views and discussions are still taking place.

Emergence of the online discussion groups is a 21st century phenomena and it is important for the power electronics professionals to consider joining the group. It is not only a useful tool to do networking but offers an opportunity to gain knowledge and information from a variety of sources by posting relevant questions. One advantage of such online forums is that it reaches different parts of the world which can have different views on a particular subject.

Conferences such as APEC (Applied Power Electronics Conference), PCIM (Power Conversion and Intelligent Motion) or Darnell's various conferences are very important and are ideal for face- to-face connections and networking. These events are generally held annually and in addition to networking, also provide tutorials, seminars and exhibits which make them very worthwhile. However for some they can be expensive to attend from both a time and cost perspective. For simple, routine and continuous dialog in a form of questions and answers the online discussion groups are becoming indispensable. For the power electronics community the PMP Group is recommended as one such forum. A link to join the group is:  http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/93894/77E2F017A315.

Another forum to consider is the PSMA group in LinkedIn sponsored by PSMA, which primarily focuses on business and industry issues. To join either group you must first be a member of LinkedIn and then request membership in the PSMA group or the PMP Group. There are currently 155 LinkedIn members in the PSMA group and the link to the PSMA group home page is: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=1918832.

Provided by Mohan Mankikar, President, Micro-Tech Consultants

Digital Power
Digital control and management continues to be adopted in both OEM/on-board applications and, increasingly, in merchant power supplies. The digital controller and converter market is projected to grow at over 30% annually to 2015, to almost $600 million. Long-term growth of digital power will inevitably impair the markets for analog power semiconductors, most notably analog switching controllers and regulators and, to a lesser extent, other controller ICs such as those for power factor correction (PFC).

The Universal Mobile Phone Charger
The international universal charger initiative (EN 62684), scheduled to commence in 2012, is predicted to drive changes in charger re-use and shipping, which could severely affect the charger market. If the universal charging solution drives manufacturers and operators to stop shipping chargers with their mobile phones, IMS Research predicts a decline of 25% in the mobile phone charger market in 2015.

Increasing Power Content
Within a product range, demand for models with a more complex design or more power components is currently driving growth in the power market. A good example is the mobile handset. Smartphones currently account for less than 20% of all mobile phones shipped, though this percentage is projected to double over the next 5 years. Smartphones often have a bigger display, multiple processors, and complicated circuitry which demand more complex and more expensive components. This is forecast to play a large part in driving a total power IC market for mobile phones close to $1.5 billion in 2015 (to over 10% of the total power IC market).

Emerging/Fast Adoption Applications
The explosive growth seen for tablets PCs such as the Apple iPad, and for eBook readers, is predicted to continue in the medium term. There are other emerging markets, such as wireless power, for which a low-power standard "Qi" was released during 2010. Over one billion devices are forecast to be enabled with the option to re-charge using wireless power in the next decade. Opportunities will exist for power semiconductor and power supply manufacturers amongst others. Other emerging power markets with opportunities for suppliers include renewable energy, and hybrid and electric vehicles.

Efficiency
Efficiency continues to be a key driver for the power component markets. More power-efficient designs often are more complex and require more expensive components. Power-efficient designs are now also driving a market for semiconductors manufactured from materials with superior properties to silicon, notably silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). IMS Research predicts that the market for power devices made from these two materials will more than double in 2011 and be worth close to $1 billion in 2015.

Provided by Ryan Sanderson, Senior Research Analyst, IMS Research’s Power & Energy Group

Integrating RF functions like power amplifiers and transceivers with power management on-chip has been a daunting task for designers. Nevertheless, this effort has been underway for several years now. Especially among RFIC makers who have been trying to optimize and miniaturize dc-dc converters so that they can be combined with RF functions on the same die. Hence, I will attempt to find answers to this challenge that has permitted a few to combine the two functionalities on a common semiconductor substrate, or bring them closer together in a single package, for use in the mobile space.

Among the key semiconductor suppliers who have made significant progress on this front are Analog Devices, Silicon Laboratories, RF Micro Devices, Integrated Device Technology (IDT), and Nordic Semiconductor.

IDT, for instance, is exploiting its experience in developing a variety of integrated PMICs for a myriad consumer devices and is currently looking beyond audio codecs and audio amplifiers. Consequently, it is now ready to push this level of power management integration to RF amplifiers and radio transceivers used in mobile handsets and cellular phones, including smartphones. For this integration, IDT is again tapping the benefits of using 0.18 micron BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) process. This is the same process used to produce the previously discussed IDT P95020.

As part of another ASIC chip solution, IDT designers are investigating a next-generation RF power amplifier that requires on-chip power tracking. That means, by monitoring the received signal level or strength, the system adjusts the power output of the RF amplifier. In other words, by dynamically applying the right amount of bias and voltage to the PA, it can adjust its output level so that the system can run more efficiently and effectively. The adjustable on-chip switching dc-dc buck converter used here achieves over 90 percent efficiency. And to ensure that efficiency remains high when the battery voltage goes low, a built-in switch disconnects the on-chip dc-dc converter and directly connects the battery to the amplifier. Since the drop from battery to PA is very small, the system efficiency remains high. By the way, to use a very small and low value inductor, the buck converter switches at 6 MHz.

While keeping low-voltage and high-voltage circuits well isolated, the sophisticated BCD process also ensures that RF interference is minimal to keep on-chip power supplies clean for application-specific circuits like PAs and radio transceivers. In addition, with proper circuit design and layout, separating power and ground planes, the cross-talk and parasitics are minimized and interference is further curtailed, according to Siamak Bastami, IDT's director of Analog & Power Group.

According to IDT, this forthcoming RF power amplifier with on-chip power tracking is expected to sample in the second quarter of this year.

For high bandwidth and extended range wireless connectivity, Silicon Labs' has readied a wireless MCU that combines an ultra-low-power 25-MHz 8051 processor core with a high-performance sub-gigahertz RF transceiver called EZRadioPro. In this device, labeled Si1000, the RF transceiver and the microcontroller functions are on separate dies, but housed in a single 5-mm x 7-mm package. To keep current consumption low for battery power applications, the EZradioPro Transceiver (Si4432) incorporates on-chip six low dropout voltage regulators (LDOs), which also permits a wide operating supply voltage range from +1.8 to +3.6 V (Fig.1).  In addition, the microcontroller die incorporates the switch-mode dc-dc converter that is used to power both the MCU and the radio functions of the Si1000. Meanwhile, LDOs on each die ensure on-chip voltage regulation. Both, the MCU and EZRadioPro dies are fabricated in a mainstream CMOS process.

Fig.1 Six voltage regulators are integrated on this RF transceiver chip from Silicon Labs, which allows for a wide operating supply voltage range from +1.8 to +3.6 V.

With smaller geometries, the RF transistors operate on lower voltages to keep current consumption low. And on-chip LDOs ensure that the supply voltages are within tolerance. The partitioning of functions on-chip is dictated by gate speed, RF performance and non-volatile memory, said Keith Odland, Silicon Labs' microcontroller product marketing manager. It is the process node that optimizes all these functions, added Odland.

In the Si1000 solution, the microprocessor, along with its power management function, is on a separate die, Silicon Labs says it has the ability to create a monolithic solution if the application (or the customer) demands. "However, the two-chip solution gives us the flexibility, which turns out to be a better strategy for us," stated Odland.

Another RF solutions provider addressing this level of integration is RF Micro Devices (RFMD). RFMD is also moving aggressively on this front as it recognizes that managing power within a mobile device is becoming extremely critical as more and more functions are added within a smaller footprint. Although the company has optimized a standalone buck dc-dc converter with more than 90% conversion efficiency to power CDMA/WCDMA power amplifiers (PAs), it has developed shielding, isolation and circuit techniques to bring such power supplies, including external passives, inside a multi-band, multimode PA multichip module. The result is the PowerSmart power platform (RFRD6460) with the ability to mitigate noise, interference and crosstalk in such an integrated RF solution.

As shown in Fig.2, an RF configurable power core is at the heart of the PowerSmart platform RFRD6460. And this platform incorporates all multiband, multimode power amplification and RF power management functionality, along with all the necessary switching and signal conditioning functionality in a compact reference design. This provides smartphone manufacturers with a single scalable solution for the entire cellular front. In reality, the PowerSmart platform comprises two separate parts -- the RF6560 and RF6260. The RF6560 is a CMOS-based buck-boost dc-dc converter IC, while the RF6260 is a PA module that combines GaAs HBT, GaAs FET and CMOS technologies. Both the components operate seamlessly to provide a configurable power solution. However, combining the two parts for a 3G/4G application in a single IC-style package is not trivial as the modulation schemes are complex and the dc-dc converter must accordingly provide buck-boost voltages at high efficiency and high speed with tight tolerance, low noise and low ripple over a wide output voltage range.

Figure.2 The configurable power platform RFRD6460 merges RFMD's VSWR-tolerant quadrature power amplifier module RF6260 with the company's patented power management solution RF6560. Both the components operate seamlessly as a highly RF configurable power core.

While it is simpler to integrate power management and RF functions on a single chip in 2G or GSM handsets, the cost is a barrier. The 2G/GSM handset makers are not willing to pay high cost, says Ben Thomas, RFMD's director of marketing for 3G-4G cellular front ends.

Yet another area where power management and RF functions are merging is Bluetooth. Ultra-low power specialist Nordic Semiconductor has released a new single chip Bluetooth v4.0 solution that integrates radio, baseband, microcontroller with fully embedded software stack, a stepdown dc-dc converter and a linear voltage regulator on the same CMOS chip. The on-chip dc-dc converter is specifically designed to lower peak current when operating from 3-V coin cell batteries. Labeled µBlue nRF8001, the Bluetooth v4.0 compliant wireless chip is housed in a 5-mm x 5-mm 32-pin QFN package.

Expect to see continued developments along these lines in the future. In essence, as the process technologies advance and on-chip RF integration density increases, power management is becoming ever-more crucial. In this environment, the drive to integrate dc-dc converters, voltage regulators and other power sources becomes an important means of attaining time to market, performance and cost objectives.

Provided by Ashok Bindra,
Technology Writer, Technika

Ashok Bindra is a veteran writer and editor with more than 25 years of editorial experience covering RF/wireless technologies, semiconductors and power electronics. He has written, both for print and the web, for leading electronics trade publications in the U.S, including Electronics, EETimes, Electronic Design and RF Design. Presently, he has his own technical writing company called Technika through which he does writing projects for different trade publications and vendors. Prior to becoming an editor, Bindra worked in industry as an electronics engineer. He holds an M.S. degree from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Clarkson College of Technology (now Clarkson University) in Potsdam, NY, and an M.Sc (Physics) from the University of Bombay, India. He can be reached by email at bindra1[at]verizon.net.

Editor's Note: This article was first published in the January 2011 issue of How2Power Today (www.how2power.com/newsletters).

One of the new features that we think you will like is the Member Spotlight on the Home Page which will feature a banner ad from PSMA member companies on a rotating basis. Check with your marcom group to see if your company has already submitted a banner ad.  The ad should be of professional quality and highlight one of your company's products or services. For detailed specifications, please contact the Association Office (power@psma.com). These ads will be included on the website at no charge to your company and they are a benefit of membership.

Although some of the improvements to the new website will not be visible to visitors, it will increase the efficiency of the site administration, saving time and money in the Association Office. The website will use an improved web page addressing scheme to improve search engine results - that is, Search Engine Friendly (SEF) urls and better behavior for Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The new site uses a Content Management System (CMS) that is supported by a large developer community. They are always looking for ways to improve it. Since the CMS is used on thousands of web sites, PSMA will benefit from all the testing and improvements that result from that installed base.

Be sure to visit the new PSMA website and let us know how you like it.  We welcome your comments on new content to add or features to improve the site.

The Solar Energy Stock Index Report, published by their Renewable Energy team each quarter, provides you with information on the following:

• Quarterly performance of the Solar Energy Stock Index versus the S&P Index
• Relative market valuations of each Solar Energy Category
• Current financial data for each company in the index

solar_energy_stock_index_4q10.pdf (50k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

• Q4 2010 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography, and sector of the target company
• Recent Solar Energy transaction announcements
• Q4 2010 Solar Energy transaction summary

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

solar_energy_dealreader3q10.pdf (50k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.