FAQ

The automotive industry’s shift toward software-defined vehicles (SDV) and electrification is forcing a fundamental rethink of development processes, component specifications, and cross-industry collaboration. During a recent technical briefing, three engineers from TE Connectivity outlined how these changes are impacting everything from 30-year-old Stage-Gate processes to sensor latency requirements and the implementation of zonal architecture across […]

Power over coax (PoC) works by transmitting both data and power over a single coaxial cable, reducing wiring, weight, and complexity for in-vehicle systems like cameras and high-definition displays. PoC can be crucial for meeting fuel efficiency standards and supporting the growing number of cameras and increasing display sizes and resolutions in modern vehicles. Cabling […]

The global demand for power supplies is expected to exceed USD 46.5 billion by 2031. This growth is fueled by the proliferation of EVs, renewable energy systems, and industrial automation, particularly for AC-DC power supplies. These applications require current sensors with high accuracy, low noise, and fast response times. As the demand for higher power […]

While connectors are essential components of nearly every electronic application, they can be easily overlooked by design teams as they focus their initial prototyping efforts on the critical functionality provided by processors, controllers, and other semiconductors. What’s more, for many engineers, connector design and implementation is often outside, or at best adjacent, to their core […]

This final part continues the look at MIL-STD-1553B with an overview of formats and protocols, as well as available hardware and development/debug tools. Formats and protocol Q: What is the basic signal format described by the standard? A: A Manchester code is used to present both clock and data on the same wire pair and […]

For engineers who are not involved in military/aerospace designs or similar systems requiring extreme reliability, ruggedness, and redundancy, the MIL-STD-1553B connectivity standard may be an unknown or just a vague recollection. Perhaps they came across the standard many years ago, and if they did, it must be obsolete by now, right? Yet that’s not the […]

With continually improving artificial intelligence (AI) technology, system designers will face the design tradeoff of adding more sensors to achieve specific design objectives or using AI instead. A good example is a smart elevator. Today’s elevators have several sensors in their design. One of the key features of smart elevators starts with traffic analysis and […]

Sensors require compliance with many industry standards and government regulations to be acceptable for different applications. One of the more stringent and well-known areas is automotive. However, industry groups in many market segments have sensor and system requirements that may be common or unique to specific applications. Industry-specific standards In automotive applications, government regulations, such […]

While it may be costly, installing a security screening system can be a valuable investment for many institutions, especially in soft-target environments such as schools. Even if it never confronts or prevents an attack, like any insurance policy, the security system can provide numerous benefits to the insured. As part of the Support Anti-terrorism by […]

Suppose an individual born in the U.S. lives the average life expectancy (78.4 years today). In that case, they can expect numerous iterations of technological innovations and improvements throughout their lifetime, especially for healthcare products and systems. Looking back, an item like the Holter monitor (developed in 1947 and released for commercial production in 1962) […]

The automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation, driven by the rise of software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and their pivotal role in shaping the future of mobility. Consumers now demand seamless personalization, digital integration, advanced automation, constant connectivity, and environmentally sustainable solutions in their vehicles. To meet these expectations and stay competitive, OEMs must rethink traditional […]

Electromagnetic interference (EMI) at harness-to-PCB connections creates one of the biggest challenges in modern electronics design. These interface points act as weak spots where unwanted signals can escape your carefully designed circuits, causing system failures. This FAQ discusses four techniques that work in conjunction: shielded connectors, smart PCB layout, proper grounding, and common-mode chokes. When […]

Not every design needs large bus bars; some only need smaller, localized ones or PC board-mounted bus bars. This part looks at these situations, as well as testing of high-current/voltage bus bars. The previous part explores additional bus-bar considerations. Part 1 can be found here. Smaller busbars also fill a need Voltage drop is well known to […]

Oceans comprise about 96.5% of the water-covered surface (71%) of the Earth. Surprisingly, the salinity of these huge bodies of water varies considerably. Interconnected masses and layers mix together and split apart through currents, eddies, and changes to temperature and salinity, where salinity is measured in practical salinity units or PSUs. The Practical Salinity Scale 1978, […]

These substantial conductors serve a vital role and must meet many conflicting constraints. This part explores additional bus-bar considerations. Part 1 can be found here. Laminated bus bars While some busbars are single conductors and carry only one power rail, there’s an increasing trend towards using laminated busbars, seen in Figure 1. These multilayer units […]

Multi-sensor calibration of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in autonomous vehicles ensures accurate data fusion by aligning various sensors (like cameras, LiDAR, and radar) into a unified coordinate system, enabling precise perception and localization. This article reviews the types and techniques of multi-sensor calibration of ADAS. ADAS sensor calibration uses a combination of intrinsic considerations […]

Bus bars appear to be simple and low glamour in comparison to many other active and even passive components, and in some ways, they are. However, they are also sophisticated structures that require an understanding of voltage drop due to conductor resistance, materials science, thermal issues, mechanical joining, insulation, coating chemistry, and electrical safety and […]

When connecting cable assemblies to PCBs, you need more than just a physical connection. These interfaces must meet specific industry standards to deliver minimal performance across different applications. Understanding the right standards for your project is necessary when applying to both consumer electronics and aerospace systems. This FAQ discusses the most common standards for the […]

Government regulations, such as European Union (EU) General Safety Regulations and various New Car Assessment Programs (NCAP) requiring driver monitoring system (DMS) and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandating child presence detection (CPD) systems in new cars, are incentivizing car makers and system suppliers to add more sophisticated sensors inside of new vehicles. The […]

Tools used for calibrating sensors range from basic multimeters and multi-product calibrators to application-specific tools, like pressure calibrators, calibration baths, and infrared blackbody calibrators, depending on the type of sensor and the measurement requirements. As sensors get more sophisticated and precise, so do the tools used to calibrate them. Sensors require calibration to deliver consistent […]

Many soldier-worn systems integrate advanced sensors and communications technologies into uniforms, helmets, and tactical vests. These technologies rely on rugged, lightweight connectors to link disparate systems, deliver power safely, and ensure reliable data transmission on the battlefield. This article explores the evolution of soldier-worn military technologies and the role of wearable connectors in enabling seamless […]

Maxwell’s equations are fundamental tools for electric and magnetic fields, while Maxwell’s relations focus on thermodynamic quantities like temperature, pressure, volume, and entropy. For more on Maxwell’s equations, see “What are the fundamentals of Maxwell’s equations and how do they relate to TENGs?” Maxwell’s relations give designers a powerful tool for analyzing thermodynamic systems like […]

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) rely on precision electronic components — including specialized connectors and interconnects — to ensure accurate sensing, signal integrity, and reliable data transmission. This article reviews the core functionality of CGMs and highlights the key role of interconnects in these critical medical devices. It also explores how miniaturization drives next-generation CGM design, […]

Many data centers are packed with racks of high-performance graphics processing units (GPUs) and tensor processing units (TPUs). These accelerators process massive artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) datasets, executing complex operations in parallel and exchanging data at high speed. This article explores the interconnects and connectors that link AI accelerator clusters together. Scaling […]

The industrial and embedded systems world is undergoing a rapid transformation, placing unprecedented demands on system design and component selection. These systems, which once operated under relatively stable conditions, are now expected to function reliably in harsher environments, with tighter tolerances, and with far greater data loads due to the proliferation of industrial IoT systems. […]