Bench Talk

In this week’s New Tech Tuesday, we’ll look at new products from Signal Transformer, PANJIT Semiconductors, and STMicroelectronics, which facilitate power-transfer solutions.

Proponents of wireless charging see it as a simpler, more convenient way to charge EVs because it eliminates the hassle of handling charging cables and offers a new way to charge vehicles at rest or in motion. But, is wireless charging practical, or is it just fantasy?

Exchanging your old technology can feel like a choreographed dance routine. Are we in the audience—or active participants?

Today’s wireless charging is like commuting to work by bicycle: great in principle but a pain in practice. Cycling promises fitness, no gas bills and freedom from public transport schedules but the reality involves dodging cars, inhaling truck fumes and arriving in the office disheveled. Similarly, wireless charging has the potential (excuse the pun) to free consumers from the tedium of finding the correct charger from the dozens of incompatible units in the kitchen drawer and to cut through the Gordian knot of power cables lurking under the office desk. Yet wireless charging systems remain thin on the ground and compatible mobile devices are rarer still.

Charging the batteries of smartphones, tablets, and other battery-operated products is a bit of pain especially if you’re “heavy user”. And how many times do you succeed the first time in correctly plugging in that micro-USB connector on our Android phone? So you would think wireless (inductive) charging would have taken off like a rocket, but it hasn’t for the usual reason: a battle between incompatible standards, with the typical consumer confusion as a result. If you haven’t delved into this area, here’s where wireless charging currently stands.

Nearly 4000 power professionals and knowledge-seekers converged at the Fort Worth Convention Center in March for the twenty-ninth annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC 2014). There was something for everyone it seemed, from hot topics such as high-density power supplies, wide bandgap semiconductors for power electronics applications, wireless charging for electric vehicles, advances in nanotechnology, energy harvesting and 3D packaging to standard subjects such as dc-dc converters, power factor correction, controls, and passive components.

The 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) wrapped up with the usual plethora of product debuts and announcements. Here are some highlights and trends related to power supplies and power management products.