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Maxim Integrated is a company specializing in semiconductor interface, digital signal processor, analog signal chain, communication IC, power supply and battery management, etc. In the past twenty years, Maxim has developed ICs with high reliability, working in the extended temperature range for industrial applications. Now, they also offer products with current and voltage protection, reducing the devices' demand for space and power consumption with excellent performance indicators. CatalogsI MAX7409 / MAX741O / MAX7413 / MAX7414II MAX847 / MAX769III MAXl674 / MAXl675 / MAXl676IV MAX3875V MAX2105VI MAX3690VII MAX4539 / MAX4540VIII MAX7400 / MAX7403IX MAXl710X MAX668 / MAX669XI MAX254BXIII MAX2663 / MAX2671 / MAX2673Intro Integrated circuits (ICs) are a keystone of modern electronics, in this article we will disguss some kinds of ICs in Maxim Integrated. They are the heart and brains of most circuits. They are the ubiquitous little black "chips" you find on just about every circuit board. Unless you’re some kind of crazy, analog electronics wizard, you're likely to have at least one IC in every electronics project you build, so it's important to understand them, inside and out.An IC is a collection of electronic components ——resistors, transistors, capacitors, etc. ——all stuffed into a tiny chip, and connected together to achieve a common goal. They come in all sorts of flavors: single-circuit logic gates, op amps, 555 timers, voltage regulators, motor controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, FPGAs…the list just goes on-and-on.Embedded computing is based on microcontroller design and provides fixed function operation control. Embedded computing originated from industrial control applications, and has been widely used in consumer electronics, medical treatment, and even communications. Maxim provides real-time clock, security authentication, interface IC and sensor solutions for these markets,which makes it an important supplier in the industry.  What is IC chip and how does an IC work I Space and power saving 5th order filter IC---MAX7409/MAX741O/MAX7413/MAX7414New 5th order Bessel, Butterworth Switched-Capacitor Low Pass Filters series products, uMAX-8 pins and DIP package. MAXIM's proprietary uMAX package, which is 80% smaller than the 8-pins DIP package, makes it the industry's smallest 5-order switched capacitor filter. MAX7409/MAX7410 works at +5V, MAX7413/MAX7414 works at +3V and both devices draw only 1.2mA of supply current. Low price, small size and low power consumption make this kind of filter extremely suitable for price sensitive portable devices requiring DAX post-filtering or anti-aliasing applications.The MAX7409/MAX7413 Bessel filters have the characteristics of low overshoot, fast establishment and linear phase response, and the MAX7410/MAX7414 Butterworth filters have the flatest band-pass response. The four kinds of chips are all fixed frequency response, and the design tasks of filter is simplified to selecting clock frequency.The angular frequency can be tuned from 1Hz to 15 kHz by the clock at a rate of 100 times the clock/rotation angle. Two modes of clock operation, one is a self-contained clock of an external capacitor, another is an external clock which could strictly control the cut-off frequency. They have a very low output misalignment (±4 mV) and can be further regulated via an offset adjustment pin. Figure 1. Typical application circuit of MAX7409/MAX741O/MAX7413/MAX7414 II Power management ICs for communication equipment---MAX847/MAX769The MAX847/MAX769 DC-DC converter produced by MAXIM Company of USA has the characteristics of low voltage operation, high conversion efficiency and synchronous rectification. It is suitable for the low power digital radio communication system with 1 to 3 batteries, such as two-way paging, GPS receiver and so on, ensuring the cut-in voltage is as low as 0.87V and the quiescent current is 37 μA (the outage current is 2 μA).The built-in synchronous rectifier eliminates the external Schottky diode, meanwhile the conversion efficiency is increased to 90% , and for MAX847, an output current exceeding 50mA may be provided when power is supplied with a single battery. When two batteries are supplied, the MAX769 with function of boost/buck conversion could provide an output current over 90mA. Both chips can digitally adjust the output voltage through a serial interface compatible with SPI, which ranges from 1.8 V to 4.9 V whit an adjustable interval of 100 mV. The no-load current is only 13 μA.The MAX769 is similar to the MAX847 except that it contains a buck/boost DC-DC converter (for 2-cell or 3-cell inputs) rather than a boost-only converter (for 1-cell inputs). Both MAX847 and MAX769 include a multichannel ADC for battery monitoring. Three low noise Linear Regulator outputs for various uses (3V analog, 2.85V logic, and 1V receiver.  Both chips are 28-pin QSOP packaged. Figure 2. Typical application circuit of MAX847 Figure 3. Typical application circuit of MAX769 III Compact and efficient DC-DC converter IC with very low power supply current---MAXl674/MAXl675/MAXl676The MAX1674/MAX1675/MAX1676 DC-DC converter chip can provide up to 94% conversion efficiency. They available in small 8 or 10-pin uMAX package, and the static current is only 16 μA. The built-in synchronous rectifier not only improves efficiency but also eliminates the using of  external Schottky diodes, resulting in smaller dimensions and lower costs.The MAX1674 has a current-limiting of 1A, and the MAX1675 has a current-limiting of 0.5A, allowing the use of very small inductors. The MAX1676 has an optional current-limiting and minimizes the EMI due to an elimination of inductive oscillations. All chips have built-in N channel MOSFET with 0.3Ω and with a pin-selectable output voltage of 3.3V or 5V. The output voltage can also be adjusted in the range of 2 V to 5.5 V using the divider resistance. The input voltage ranges from 0.7 V to VOUT and the cut-in voltage can be as low as 1.1 V. Other features include: efficiency up to 94% when the output current is 200mA, built-in low voltage detection and 0.1 μA shutdown mode. IV Clock recovery and data retiming IC---MAX3875MAX3875 is a compact, low power clock recovery and data retiming chip for 2.488GbpsSDH／SONET systems. The fully integrated PLL can extract the synchronous clock from the serial NRZ input data which is retimed by the recovery clock. The clock and data output of the chip are compatible with the differential PECL and the additional 2.488Gbps serial input is used for loopback test of the system. It can also provide unlock monitoring signal of a TTL level.MAX3875 can be used as regenerator or terminal receiver in 0C-48／STM-16 transmission system. Insert jitter characteristics are higher than any SONET/SDH specification. The single supply is from 3.3V to 5V and when power is 3.3V, the power loss is less than 400mW in the full temperature range from -40 ℃ to 85 ℃.MAX3875 is available in 32-pin TQFP package.Figure 4. Typical application circuit of MAX3875 V Digital DBS direct-conversion tuner IC---MAX2105It is designed for the application of Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) TV set-top box. Compared with the structure based on intermediate frequency, the cost of the system is greatly reduced because of the use of direct frequency conversion structure. MAX2105 is supplied by a single power supply of 5V and the input signal frequency ranges from 950MHz to 2150MHz, tuned directly from L band to baseband by broadband I/Q down converter.The MAX2105 internal circuit includes a low noise amplifier with AGC, two down conversion mixers, an oscillating buffer with a 90° orthogonal generator, a prescaler and a baseband amplifier. The range of AGC gain adjustment is 41 dB, and the minimum power of input signal is -60 dB. Since the range of AGC gain adjustment is reduced, MAX2105 can use high gain external LNAs to obtain better noise coefficient, and can also provide a automatic baseband drift correction.MAX2105 is available in 28-pin SO package.Figure 5. Typical application circuit of MAX2105 VI SDH/SONET 8:1 serializer with clock synthesis and TTL inputs---MAX3690The MAX3690 serializer is powered by 3.3V only with a 200mW power consumption. Ideal for converting 8-bit-wide, 77Mbps parallel data to 622Mbps serial data in SDH / SONET system. Other applications include Add/Drop Multiplexers, Digital Cross-Connects.The clock and data input of MAX3690 is TTL logic level, serial data output is 3.3V PECL logic level. A fully integrated PLL synthesizes an internal 622Mbps serial clock from a low-speed crystal reference clock (77.76MHz, 51.84MHz, or 38.88MHz). An unlocked output of a TLL level can be used to indicate whether the PLL is working properly.MSX3690 is available in 32-pin TQFP packages.Figure 6. Functional diagram of MAX3690 VII Single 8-channel and dual-4 channel multiplexer ICs with precision resistance networks---MAX4539/MAX4540The single-8 channel MAX4539 and the dual-4 channel MAX4540 are a kind of multiway switch with calibration function (calibrating multiplexer), which is suitable for system self-testing and precision type MAX4540. Their built-in precision resistive partial voltage networks can provide accurate reference voltage of V+／2、5／8(V+ -V-)、15VREF/4096 and 4081VREF/4096 (Where VREF is external reference voltage).The MAX4539/MAX4540 have enable inputs and address latching. When power supply working at 5V or ±5V, the digital input has a 0.8V/2.4V logic threshold that guarantees compatibility with TTL/CMOS.The MAX4539/MAX4540 are available in small 20-pin DlP, S0, and SSOP packages, both of which can operate in a single supply of +2.7V to 12V or a duplicate supply of ±2.7V to ±6V. The on resistance (maximum 100 Ω) of the same device matches within 12Ω, and Each switch can handle Rail-to-Rail analog signals.The off leakage current is 1nA at TA = +25°C and 10nA at TA = +85°C.Functional diagram of MAX4539Figure 8. Functional diagram of MAX4540 VIII 8th-Order, lowpass, elliptic, switched-capacitor filters---MAX7400／MAX7403MAX7400/MAX7403 is a newly developed 8th-order, lowpass, elliptic, switched-capacitor filters by MAXIM Company of USA. The cut-off frequency ranges from 1Hz to 10kHz, and only draw 2mA of supply current. With a single power supply of 5 V, it is ideal for low power anti-aliasing and post-filtering of D/A converters. They feature a shutdown mode that reduces the supply current to 0.2μA.MAX7400 devices provide a sharp roll-off with a 1.5 transition ratio and 80 dB of stop-band rejection, while the MAX7403 devices provide a sharper roll-off of 1.2 transition ratio and 58 dB of stop-band rejection. For the both filters, the low output offset of ±4 mV can be adjusted via an offset adjustment pin.The internal switching operation of the filter can be controlled by an internal clock of an external capacitor or an external control to obtain a more accurate angular frequency. The fixed frequency response greatly simplifies the design, which only needs to set the clock frequency according to the desired angular frequency. MAX7400 and MAX7403 filters are available in 8-pin SOIC and plastic DIP packages.Figure 9. Typical application circuit of MAX7400/MAX7403 IX High-speed, digitally adjusted step-down controllers fornotebook CPUs---MAXl710The MAX1710/MAX1711 step-down controllers are intended for core CPU DC-DC converters in notebook computers. They feature a triple-threat combination of ultra-fast transient response, high DC accuracy, and high efficiency needed for leading-edge CPU core power supplies. Maxim's proprietary Quick-PWMTM quick-response, constant-on-time PWM control scheme handles wide input/output voltage ratios with ease and provides 100ns "instant-on" response to load transients while maintaining a relatively constant switching frequency.High DC precision is ensured by a 2-wire remote-sensing scheme that compensates for voltage drops in both the ground bus and supply rail. An on-board, digital-to-analog converter (DAC) sets the output voltage in compliance with Mobile Pentium Ⅱ CPU specifications. The MAX1710 achieves high efficiency at a reduced cost by eliminating the current-sense resistor found in traditional current-mode PWMs. Efficiency is further enhanced by an ability to drive very large synchronous-rectifier MOSFETs.Single-stage buck conversion allows these devices to directly step down high-voltage batteries for the highest possible efficiency. Alternatively, 2-stage conversion (stepping down the +5V system supply instead of the battery) at a higher switching frequency allows the minimum possible physical size. MAXl710 is available in Small 24-Pin QSOP Package.Figure 10. Typical application circuit of MAX7400/MAX1710 X Boosting DC-DC controllers with power levels of 20W---MAX668/MAX669The MAX668/MAX669 constant-frequency, pulse-width modulating (PWM), current-mode DC-DC controllers are designed for a wide range of DC-DC conversion applications including step-up, SEPIC, flyback, and isolated-output configurations. Power levels of 20W or more can be controlled with conversion efficiencies of over 90%. The 1.8V to 28V input voltage range supports a wide range of battery and AC-powered inputs. An advanced BiCMOS design features low operating current (220µA), adjustable operating frequency (100kHz to 500kHz), soft-start, and a SYNC input allowing the MAX668/MAX669 oscillator to be locked to an external clock.DC-DC conversion efficiency is optimized with a low 100mV current-sense voltage as well as with Maxim's proprietary Idle ModeTM control scheme. The controller operates in PWM mode at medium and heavy loads for lowest noise and optimum efficiency, then pulses only as needed (with reduced inductor current) to reduce operating current and maximize efficiency under light loads. A logic-level shutdown input is also included, reducing supply current to 3.5µA.The MAX669, optimized for low input voltages with a guaranteed start-up voltage of 1.8V, requires boot-strapped operation (IC powered from boosted output). It supports output voltages up to 28V. The MAX668 operates with inputs as low as 3V and can be connected in either a bootstrapped or non-bootstrapped (IC powered from input supply or other source) configuration. When not bootstrapped, it has no restriction on output voltage. Both ICs are available in an extremely compact 10-pin µMAX packages.Figure 11. Typical application circuit of MAX669Figure 12. Functional diagram of MAX668/MAX669 XI Low cost and small size RS-232 transceiver---MAX254BMAX254B is a complete electrically isolated RS-232 interface developed by MAXIM Company in USA. It is suitable for the system with demanding cost and size. It is mainly aimed at equipment in which noise, high transient voltage and highland potential damage or communication interference maybe occur.  XII High-performance laser driver---MAX3867The MAX3867 is a complete, single +3.3V laser driver for SDH/SONET applications up to 2.5Gbps. The device accepts differential PECL data and clock inputs and provides bias and modulation currents for driving a laser. The synchronizing input latch can be bypassed if a clock signal is not available.An automatic power control (APC) feedback loop is incorporated to maintain a constant average optical power over temperature and lifetime. The wide modulation current range of 5mA to 60mA and bias current of 1mA to 100mA are easy to program, making this product ideal for use in various SDH/SONET applications.The MAX3867 also provides enable control, a programmable slow-start circuit to set the laser turn-on delay, and a failure-monitor output to indicate when the APC loop is unable to maintain the average optical power. The MAX3867 is available in a small 48-pin TQFP package as well as dice.Figure 13. Functional diagram of MAX3867 XIII High linearity upconverters---MAX2663／MAX2671／MAX2673The MAX2663/MAX2671/MAX2673 miniature, low-cost, low-noise upconverters are designed for low-voltage operation and are ideal for use in portable consumer equipment. Signals at the IF input port are mixed with signals at the local oscillator (LO) port using a double-balanced mixer. These upconverters operate with IF input frequencies between 40MHz and 500MHz, and upconvert to output frequencies as high as 2.5GHz.These upconverters offer a wide range of supply currents and output intercept levels to optimize system performance. Supply current is essentially constant over the specified supply voltage range. Additionally, when the devices are in a typical configuration with VSHDN-bar=0, a shutdown mode reduces the supply current to less than 1μA.The MAX2663/MAX2671 family of upconverters are offered in the space-saving 6-pin SOT23 package. For applications requiring balanced IF ports, choose the MAX2673 upconverters in the 8-pin μMAX package.Figure 14. Typical application circuit of MAX2663／MAX2671／MAX2673   

Warm hints: The word in this article is about 2500 words and reading time is about 12 minutes.   This paper mainly introduces that how to use a solid state relay to drive a thermostat.    As we all known,relay is an electrical control device, an electrical appliance that makes the predetermined step change in the electrical output circuit when the input (excitation) changes reach the required requirements. Catalog   I. Solid State Relay Basics 1.1    What is solid state relay 1.2    Solid state relay working principle 1.3    Solid state relay appliances II. Thermostat Basics 2.1    What is thermostat 2.2     Types of thermostat 2.3    Features of thermostat 2.4    Applications of thermostat III. Drive Thermostat by Using Solid State Relay 3.1    Power thermostat 3.2    Case of driving thermostat FAQ   I. Solid State Relay Basics   1.1 What is Solid State Relay   A solid-state relay(SSR) is a contactless switch consisting of microelectronic circuits, discrete electronic devices and power electronic power devices. The isolation between the control end and the load side is realized by isolation devices. The input of the solid-state relay is controlled by a tiny control signal to directly drive the large current load.   SSR takes advantage of the switching characteristics of electronic components, such as switch triode, bidirectional thyristor and other semiconductor devices, to achieve the purpose of connecting and disconnecting the circuits without contact and sparkless, and therefore is also called "contactless switch".    A solid-state relay is a four-terminal active device, of which two terminals are input control terminal, and the other ends are output controlled ends. It has both amplification and isolation function. It is suitable for driving high power switching actuator, which is more reliable than electromagnetic relay and has no contact, long life, fast speed and interference to the outside. Because of its small size, it has been widely used.   1.2  Solid State Relay Working Principle   SSR can be divided into two types: AC type and DC type according to the use occasions.    They can switch loads on AC or DC power supply, and they can not be mixed. The following is an example of the AC type SSR as an example of its working principle. The following diagram is a block diagram of its working principle. The components in the diagram constitute the main body of the AC SSR. From the whole, SSR has only two inputs (A and B) and two output terminals (C and D), and is a four-terminal device.   Working principle block diagram of solid state relay   When a certain control signal is added to the A and B, the "switch" and "break" between the two ends of C and D can be controlled and the function of "switch" can be realized. The function of the coupling circuit is to provide a channel between the input/output terminal of the control signal input from the A and B ends, but it disconnects the input and output terminals of the SSR in the electrical circuit.    In order to prevent the effect of the output end on the input end, the coupling circuit used the "optical coupler", which is sensitive, responsive, and high in the input/output insulation (voltage resistance) level; because the input terminal load is a light-emitting diode, this makes the input end of the SSR easily matched with the input signal level. When used, it can be directly connected to the output interface of the computer, that is, the logical level control of "1" and "0".    The function of the trigger circuit is to generate the required trigger signal, drive the switch circuit 4, but because the switch circuit does not add the special control circuit, it will produce the radio frequency interference and pollute the power grid such as the high order harmonic or the peak, so the zero-crossing control circuit is set up. The "zero crossings" means that when the control signal is added and the AC voltage is over zero, the SSR is a passing state, and when the control signal is broken, the SSR is to wait for the junction point (zero potential) of the positive half of the alternating current and the negative half of the half-week (zero potential), and the SSR is broken.    This design can prevent high-order harmonic interference and pollution to the power grid. The absorption circuit is designed to prevent the shock and interference (or even misoperation) of the peak, surge (voltage) transmitted from the power supply to the bidirectional thyristor in the switch device, usually using an "R-C" series absorption circuit or a nonlinear resistor (varistor).   1.3  Solid State Relay Appliances   The special solid-state relay can have the function of short circuit protection, overload protection and overheating protection. With the combined logic curing package, the intelligent module can be realized by the user. It is directly used in the control system.   Solid-state relay has been widely used in computer peripheral interface equipment, thermostat system, temperature regulating, electric furnace heating control, motor control, CNC machine, remote control system, industrial automation device, signal light, light adjustment, scintillator, lighting stage lighting control system, instruments, medical instruments, duplicator, automatic laundry. Machine, automatic fire protection, security system, and power capacitor switching switch as power factor compensation for the power grid, and so on, in addition to the chemical, coal mine, explosion-proof, anti-corrosion, corrosion prevention and so on. The logical curing encapsulation can realize the intelligent modules that users need and is directly used in the control system.     II. Thermostat Basics   2.1  What is Thermostat   The thermostat is a device that directly or indirectly controls one or more hot and cold Yuanlai to maintain the desired temperature. In order to achieve this function, a thermostat must have a sensitive element and a converter. The sensitive element can measure the change of temperature and produce the function required for the converter. The converter converts the function from the sensing element to the proper control of the device that changes the temperature. Thermostat 2.2 Types of Thermostat The types of the thermostat are generally the following: （1）Insert thermostat is installed on the pipe and sensitive element is inserted into the pipeline. （2）Immerse sensitive elements immersed in liquid in pipes or containers to control liquids. （3）Surface sensitive elements installed on the surface of pipes or similar surfaces.   2.3  Features of Thermostat This thermostat pressure gauge setting range (5~35 C) This thermostat measurement accuracy: plus or minus 1 DEG C The thermostat. Size: 86 x 86 (mm) Power supply: AC220V thermostat. This thermostat using ultra-thin design, electrical interface It has a large LCD screen with an LCD thermostat (backlight green, Lan Beiguang) You can display the thermostat in international language (Chinese + English) The thermostat has the function of automatic and manual. This thermostat for refrigeration heating and ventilation three working modes This thermostat high low-speed automatic selection Thermostat timing shutdown function. This thermostat control fan coil end of the fan, water valve, air valve You can also set the password on the thermostat setting temperature and wind speed according to the requirements of users.   Features of thermostat 2.4  Applications of Thermostat   The most common use of the thermostat is to control the room temperature.   Typical uses include: control the gas valve; control the fuel furnace regulator; control the electric heating regulator; control the refrigeration compressor; control the gate regulator.   A room temperature regulator can be used to provide a variety of control functions, such as heating control, heating - cooling control, day and night control (at night at lower temperatures), multistage control, primary or multistage heating, primary or multistage cooling, or multistage heating and cooling control.       III. Drive Thermostat by Using Solid State Relay   3.1  Power Thermostat   There are two kinds of power supply for the thermostat: battery and 24VAC power.    The thermostat needs battery power to run without interruption. It is very important that these batteries consume as low energy as possible, but even if you minimize the power consumption, the users are still inconvenient because the battery needs to be replaced from time to time. In order to reduce the replacement frequency, you can use a 24 VAC power supply. When the C line in the system is not available, the bridge rectifier shown in Figure 1 can convert the AC (AC) voltage to a DC (DC) voltage by the load. Single thermostat signal relay connection with HVAC load   3.2  Case of Driving Thermostat When the HVAC load (compressor, fan, gas valve, etc.) is turned off, the contact of the signal relay is broken. When the contacts are open, the terminals of the rectifier bridge see the voltage of the HVAC transformer is 24VAC, and convert the AC power to DC power, as mentioned earlier. The resulting DC voltage is used to drive the thermostat or subcircuit.   During the HVAC load conduction, the contacts of the signal relay are closed. When the contact is closed, the voltage across the bridge terminal is reduced to zero. This eliminates the need to use 24VAC as a power supply, so the thermostat battery power must be controlled. The range of current required for operating electromechanical relays ranges from tens to hundreds of Ma, which can have a significant impact on battery life.   If there is a way to drive a relay without using a thermostat battery, what will happen? Battery life will increase and replacement frequency will be further reduced. One way is to turn on the relay and charge the control system briefly during the HVAC load conduction (signal relay contact closure).  Compared with the turn off time of the power relay, the time required during charging is very short, which can stimulate the power relay and its corresponding load. Unfortunately, electromechanical (signal) relays are not likely to achieve this goal due to their switching speed limits. The time taken by the contact to the desired location is in milliseconds and will interrupt the HVAC load.   Fortunately, a device can achieve the appropriate switching speed: solid-state relay (SSR). SSR is a semiconductor repeater based on a thyristor or power transistor to perform on / off control.   This recharge method requires a dual MOSFET SSR because it can turn off MOSFET based SSR when necessary. Besides, body diodes of each MOSFET can assist in 24VAC rectification. A full-wave rectifier bridge is built with two diode MOSFET diodes, as shown below.   A power supply for SSR in a HVAC system The following figure shows the rectified waveform corresponding to the color coded diode in the above figure. The voltage ripple of the final waveform can be eliminated by connecting a suitable capacitor to the output of the rectifier bridge. Then, you can reduce the DC voltage of the control system to the desired voltage. Full wave rectifying waveform The use of SSR enables the HVAC system to fully supply the thermostat and reduce the power utilization rate of the battery. When SSR closes, the HV1 and HV2 pipelines will see the full 24VAC voltage and provide a constant 33VDC voltage at the output of the rectifier bridge. When SSR is connected, it may still be circulated through a short-time on/off state to recharge the power supply capacitor. This design can greatly reduce the energy requirements of the thermostat battery and reduce the battery replacement frequency.   FAQ   1. What is solid state relay and how it works? A solid state relay (SSR) is an electronic switching device that switches on or off when an external voltage (AC or DC) is applied across its control terminals. It serves the same function as an electromechanical relay, but has no moving parts and therefore results in a longer operational lifetime.   2. What is the difference between a relay and a solid state relay? The main difference between solid state relays and general relays is that there is no movable contacts in solid state relay (SSR). In general, solid state relays are quite similar to the mechanical relays that have movable contacts. ... SSR provide high-speed, high-frequency switching operations.   3. How fast is a solid state relay? The SSR output is activated immediately after applying control voltage. Consequently, this relay can turn on anywhere along the AC sinusoidal voltage curve. Response times can typically be as low as 1 ms. The SSR is particularly suitable in application where a fast response time is desired, such as solenoids or coils.   4. Do solid state relays get hot? All solid state relays develop heat as a result of a forward voltage drop through the junction of the output device. Beyond a point, heat will cause a lowering (or derating) of the load current that can be handled by the SSR. ... Loads greater than 4 Amps will require heat sinks.   5. What causes solid state relay failure? What are the main causes and solutions of the Solid-state Relays (SSR)'s failures? If an inrush current exceeds the rated making current of the SSR due to the high inrush current of loads such as motors and lamps, SSR output elements are damaged. Consider using an SSR with a higher capacity.   6. Can a solid state relay switch DC? Solid state relays can be designed to switch both AC or DC currents by using an SCR, TRIAC, or switching transistor output instead of the usual mechanical normally-open (NO) contacts.   7. How do you test a solid state relay with a multimeter? Using Multimeter:  1. Set the multimeter in continuity test mode. 2. Place the probes of the multimeter on the coil terminals. 3. If the multimeter beeps (or show any sign of continuity), the coil is electrically closed (good). 4. If the multimeter does not beep, the coil is open & damaged. The relay needs to be replaced.   8. How reliable are solid state relays? Solid-state relays are the preferred choice for system reliability because they have no moving parts or contacts. Over time, the plating on the contacts inside EMRs can erode. This erosion can cause the contacts to weld shut; therefore they no longer open/close properly, and the relay has to be replaced.   9. Is a solid state relay a transistor? Solid-State Relay: A sort of hybrid between a conventional relay and a transistor, these relays switch a load using an LED activated by the control circuitry. The LED activates a light-activated MOSFET that controls the load.   10. How do I know if my solid state relay is bad? Solid-state relays should be checked with an ohmmeter across the normally open (N.O.) terminals when control power is off. The relays should be open, switched to OL, and closed (0.2 , the internal resistance of the ohmmeter) when control power is applied.   11. How do I choose a solid state relay? When selecting a Solid State Relay, consider: Current rating, as a general rule consider using the relay at no more than 70% of its rated current. Electrical environment,. i(In harsh electrical environments, consider a relay with an line voltage rating above the application line voltage.)   12. Do solid state relays need a diode? 2 Answers. The control side of solid state relays is usually just a LED, sometimes two LEDs back to back, and sometimes with integrated resistor. ... If the relay is on the same board as whatever is driving it, then no inductive kickback diode is needed. It's no different than driving any other on-board LED.   13. Do solid state relays leak voltage? Solid State relays have leakage. If you want to repeatedly switch something on / off, use them. But when you want the SSR to be fully off, say after pressing an off switch, a mechanical relay should be across the load to take it off the SSR. ... The SSR control is attached to the atmega328 through a 200ohm resistor.   Relevant information about "How  to Drive Thermostat by Using Solid State Relay " About the article "How  to Drive Thermostat by Using Solid State Relay", If you have better ideas, don't hesitate to write your thoughts in the following comment area. You also can find more articles about electronic semiconductor through Google search engine, or refer to the following related articles.   Making a Arduino Variable Timer Relay Comprehensive Introduction of the Time Delay Relays

Warm hints: The word in this article is about 3000 words and reading time is about 15 minutes   This article is mainly talking about how to design better electromagnetic compatibility if LCD. Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) is an inevitable issue in the design of LCDs. If the EMC design is not good, it will cause water ripples and strobe flash problems during the broadcast of the TV. EMC design is actually optimized for the electromagnetic interference generated in the product to meet the EMC standards of countries or regions. It is defined as the ability of a device or system to function properly in its electromagnetic environment and does not constitute unacceptable electromagnetic interference (EMI) to anything in the environment.       Catalog I. Brief Introduction II. Power Module EMC Design III. Main Drive Board EMC Design IV. Tuner Board EMC Design V. Whole Machine EMC Design FAQ   I. Brief Introduction Electromagnetic interference is generally divided into conducted interference and radiation interference. Conducted interference refers to the coupling interference of signals on one electrical network to another electrical network through conductive media. Radiated interference means that the interference source couples (disturbs) its signal to another electrical network through space.   The LCD structure mainly includes a liquid crystal display module, a power supply module, a drive module (mainly including the main drive board and a tuner board), and a key button module. General liquid crystal display modules have been tested by EMC before production. Here mainly introduces the design of the power module, drive module, button module, and the whole machine should pay attention to the electromagnetic interference problem.   EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) & EMC (Electromegetic Compatibility)   II. Power Module EMC Design The two main functions of the power supply section are to realize the backlight for driving the LCD screen and to provide DC power for other modules (including the drive module and the button module).   The design of the power module directly affects the entire system. If the design is not good, it will cause large water ripples in the TV. In severe cases, the TV will not be used. At the same time, it will seriously affect the normal use of other nearby equipment.   The power supply of LCDs is based on switching power supplies. The causes of electromagnetic interference problems caused by switching power supplies are complex. When designing the switching power supply, it is necessary to prevent the switching power supply from causing interference to the power grid and nearby electronic equipment. It is also necessary to strengthen the adaptability of the switching power supply itself to the electromagnetic interference environment.   To solve the EMC problem of switching power supplies, the following main measures should be taken into consideration during design:   Soft-switching technology: Inrush current and peak voltage are generated when the switching device is turned on/off. This is the main reason for electromagnetic interference and switching loss in the switch. Soft switching technology is an important method to reduce the loss of switching devices and improve the EMC characteristics of switching devices. This technology is mainly to switch the switching tube in the switching power supply at zero voltage and zero current to effectively suppress electromagnetic interference.   Modulation frequency control: Electromagnetic interference is changed according to the switching frequency, and the interference energy is concentrated on the discrete switching frequency point, resulting in large interference intensity. By distributing the energy modulation of the switching signal over a wide frequency band, a series of discrete sidebands are generated. This spreads out the interference spectrum, and the interference energy is distributed on the discrete frequency band, thereby reducing the electromagnetic interference intensity at the switching frequency point.   Component layout and routing: The components associated with the power input signal and output signal are placed near the corresponding ports to avoid interference due to the coupling path. Put components that are related to each other together to avoid interference caused by long traces.   Also, try to avoid parallel routing of signal lines. If unavoidable, try to increase the line spacing. Or add a ground wire in the middle to reduce the interference between each other.   III. Main Drive Board EMC Design The main driver board of the LCD mainly includes an analog signal portion, a high-speed digital circuit portion, and a noise source DC-DC power supply portion.   Component layout and routing: In the layout, the three parts of the analog signal part, the high-speed digital circuit part, and the noise source DC-DC power supply part should be reasonably separated so that the signal coupling between them is the minimum. In terms of device placement, the principle of associating the devices with each other is as close as possible, so that a good anti-noise effect can be obtained.   DC-DC Power Supply Part and Ground: On printed circuit boards, the power line and ground are the most important. Let analog and digital circuits have their own power and ground paths, respectively. The main means of overcoming electromagnetic interference is grounding.   On the driving board of the LCD, the ground of the power supply section (DC-DC) is mainly separated from other grounds such as the decoding and main chip processing, so as to reduce interference of the power supply on the image display and the television sound.   If there are analog ground and the digital ground when designing the circuit, they should be separated when the printed board is laid. To reduce mutual interference. In the layout of double-layer boards and multilayer PCBs, one layer of copper foil is generally used as a dedicated ground plane. The purpose of this is that this ground serves as a shield.   Integrated chip: In the same integrated chip, the ground is also separated from the analog ground and the digital ground. For example, the AD9883 analog-to-digital conversion chip of the AD company, which is often used as the main driver board of the LCD, can be floor-separated between the ground and digital sections of the analog section of the chip during the PCB design. Finally, connect the two points by a relatively short wire. Or connect the two places with a 1nF bypass capacitor.   Crystal oscillator: The clock circuit in the digital circuit is one of the main electromagnetic interference sources in current electronic products and is the main content of EMC design. Crystal is a strong source of radiation. The internal circuit of the crystal generates a large RF current, so that the ground lead of the crystal cannot sufficiently draw a relatively large Ldi/dt current to the ground plane with little loss, and as a result, the metal housing becomes a monopole antenna. The periphery of the crystal is a radiation field.   Therefore, the crystal oscillator circuit is far away from the interface circuit, such as serial port, address line, and data line. In order to avoid the interface circuit bringing the harmonic signal of the crystal out of the printed circuit board to cause electromagnetic interference. Two legs of the crystal oscillator must be added with an RC filter circuit. At the same time, be sure to connect the metal shell of the crystal to the ground on the printed board. In addition, the crystal is placed as close as possible to the chip pins. The ground is used to isolate the clock area, placing a local ground plane and connecting it to the ground through multiple vias.   Capacitance decoupling: Capacitance decoupling is used to reduce electromagnetic interference. Capacitor decoupling can be divided into three types: overall, partial, and inter-board.   The overall decoupling capacitor operates at low frequencies, providing a stable voltage and current for the entire board. It should be placed close to the printed circuit board power cord and ground. The typical decoupling capacitor value is 0.1μF. The typical value of the distributed inductance of this capacitor is 5μH. The 0.1μF decoupling capacitor has 5μH distributed inductance. Its parallel resonant frequency is about 7MHz. That is to say, it has a better decoupling effect for noise below 10MHz, and it has almost no effect on noise above tens of MHz. So for noise above 20MHz, use a 0.01μF capacitor decoupling.   The local decoupling capacitor makes the supply voltage obtained by the integrated circuit more stable; in addition, the high-frequency noise of the device is bypassed.   The decoupling capacitance between boards refers to the capacitance between the power plane and the ground plane and mainly solves the high-frequency transient current generated in the power supply. A 10~100uF electrolytic capacitor is connected across the input of the power supply. If the position of the printed circuit board is allowed, the anti-interference effect of the electrolytic capacitor with 100uF or more will be better. The lead of the decoupling capacitor can not be too long, generally close to the integrated circuit power supply, the connection should be rougher.   Bead filtering: Bead filtering is applied to all signal inputs (such as YPBPR and VGA) on the motherboard. Magnetic beads are designed to suppress high-frequency noise and spike interference on signal lines and power lines, and also have the ability to absorb electrostatic pulses. It acts as a high-frequency resistor, which attenuates high frequencies. The device allows the DC signal to pass and filter out the AC signal.   When selecting beads, you must pay attention to the following factors:   1. What is the unwanted signal frequency range? 2. Who is the noise source; 3, how much noise attenuation; 4. What is the environmental condition (temperature, DC voltage, structural strength); 5. What is the circuit and load impedance? 6. Is there room to place beads on the PCB board?   The first three can be judged by observing the impedance frequency curve provided by the manufacturer. The three curves in the impedance curve are very important, namely the resistance R, inductive reactance X, and total reactance Z. As shown in Figure 1:     Figure 1: Impedance curve and equivalent circuit topology that reflect the bead resistance, inductive reactance, and total inductance   The total impedance is described by the following formula (1):   Z=(R + 2πFL)   From this curve, beads are selected that have the maximum impedance in the frequency range where attenuation of the noise is desired, and where the attenuation of the signal is as small as possible at low and DC.   Chip beads can affect the impedance characteristics under excessive DC voltage. In addition, if the operating temperature rises too high or the external magnetic field is too large, the impedance of the beads will be adversely affected.   Whether using chip beads or chip inductors is also mainly in applications. Chip inductors are needed in the resonant circuit. When it is necessary to eliminate unwanted electromagnetic interference noise, the use of chip beads is the best choice.   IV. Tuner Board EMC Design The tuner board mainly includes a tuner section and an audio processing section.   When conducting the circuit design of the tuner board part and the layout of the PCB board, it is necessary to pay special attention to the electromagnetic interference problem. The following points must be considered:   （1）First, separate the land of the TUNER section (ie the simulated ground) from the land of the other sections. （2） Be sure to connect the metal shell of TUNER to the ground. The connection points can better eliminate electromagnetic interference. The tuner TUNER inherently has a high-frequency circuit, so it must be shielded. （3）When selecting the interface terminals (such as AV terminal, S-VIDEO terminal, etc.), try to use terminals with good conductivity and strong anti-electromagnetic interference, and also connect the ground of the interface terminal with the earth completely. At the same time also added magnetic beads filter. （4）The signal line should be as short and straight as possible. If it cannot be avoided, fly line transitions can be used. Signal lines should not form a ring. Because the ring is equivalent to the number of turns of the coil, the radiation effect of the ring wiring is the strongest. （5）Try to reduce dead copper in large areas. The solution is to connect them to the ground. If a large area of dead copper forms the antenna, electromagnetic interference will be introduced. （6）Do not run under quartz crystals and under noise-sensitive devices.   The audio processing section should pay special attention to the layout of the printed circuit board, first of all, avoid high-speed signal lines and audio and video lines together. For example, if you connect the clock line SCL and the data line SDA in the I2C bus to the traces of the audio line. Since the clock line SCL and the data line SDA in the I2C bus are constantly changing, they interfere with the sound. Obviously, for example, when you use a TV remote control to switch to a TV channel, you can hear a regular "click, click" sound from the speaker. This may be because of the above issues that were overlooked in the PCB layout.     V. Whole Machine EMC Design   The assembly drawing in the whole machine (taking one of the models as an example) is shown in Figure 2: Figure 2: In-machine assembly drawing of a model that reflects various EMI concerns   The connection line numbered 5 in the figure above is the screen line of the digital panel connection screen. Because the screen line is mainly on the screen data. It will cause a great disturbance to the system. The best way to reduce interference is to use twisted pairs and shielded wires. If it is a TTL screen, the screen line needs to be shielded or a magnetic ring outside the connection line. If on the LVDS screen, you need to use twisted pair, plus a magnetic ring. In order to reduce the screen line to the entire system of electromagnetic interference. With shielded twisted pair, the signal current can flow on the two inner conductors, and the noise current flows in the shield layer, thus eliminating the coupling of the common impedance, and any interference will induce the two conductors at the same time so that the noise cancels.   A magnetic ring is also required on the connection between the power supply and the main control board (referenced 4). The main reason is that the power cord will generate relatively large electromagnetic interference to the motherboard.   A magnetic ring should also be added to the connection between the keypad and the motherboard (referenced 9). The main reason is that there is a constant data change (remote control receiver head) on the keypad which causes electromagnetic interference to the system. Plus magnetic rings can effectively shield electromagnetic interference.   A magnetic ring is added to the audio cable (labeled 10) connected to the speaker to reduce the electromagnetic interference from the audio output to the system. If there is a cable (label 6, 7, 8) between the motherboard and the tuner board, you need to add a magnetic ring on the cable. To reduce the electromagnetic interference between cables.   The magnetic ring added above can be added according to the specific situation and can be determined by repeated experiments.   Use of shields: In general, shields are required for liquid crystal display modules, main control boards (including digital boards and tuner boards), and power supplies.   The main frequency of the main chip is the main cause of electromagnetic interference. Frequency harmonics of the main frequency are most likely to produce electromagnetic interference. In the experiment conducted by EMC, the frequency harmonics of the main frequency had large electromagnetic interference. The main chip must be shielded during design. The main shielding measures include a metal shield on the digital board. Adding a shield is the most effective way to resist electromagnetic interference. However, because of the heat dissipation problem of the driver board and the entire system, it is required that the holes on the shield cover be used to dissipate heat. However, its maximum size must be less than 1/100 of the shortest wavelength of noise.   The shield on the tuner board is mainly shielded from the TUNER section.   The shielding of the power supply section is particularly important. If the shielding of the power supply section is not good, it will cause large interference. This will not lead to conduction. And because the heat of the power supply is very severe, the shield must pay attention to the problem of heat dissipation.   Usually, shields have openings and seams that can cause electromagnetic leaks. As a result, the shielding effect is not good. Solve electromagnetic leaks at joints by using electromagnetic seal gaskets at the joints. The electromagnetic leakage of the opening in the shield is related to the size of the opening, the characteristics of the radiation source, and the distance from the radiation source to the opening. The requirement for shielding is met by designing the size of the opening and the distance of the radiation source to the opening. FAQ   1. What can cause electromagnetic interference? Electromagnetic interference (EMI) is a disturbance caused by an electromagnetic field which impedes the proper performance of an electrical device. EMI can come from man-made or natural sources such as the sun or the Earth's magnetic fields.   2. How do you stop electromagnetic interference? The simplest way to reduce magnetically induced interference is to use twisted pair wires. This applies both for shielded and unshielded cables and for interference caused by shield currents or from other sources. Twisting the wires forces them close together, reducing the loop area and therefore the induced voltage.   3. How do you make electromagnetic interference? Plug both devices into a wall outlet in the same house or building. Since the wall outlets in most houses are tied to the same ground, the ground is a common source of conducted interference, especially from the low frequency hum of an electric motor. Turn on both devices at the same time.   4. Is electromagnetic interference bad for you? There is no doubt that short-term exposure to very high levels of electromagnetic fields can be harmful to health. ... Despite extensive research, to date there is no evidence to conclude that exposure to low level electromagnetic fields is harmful to human health.   5. What are three types of interference? Electromagnetic interference (EMI) Co-channel interference (CCI), also known as crosstalk. Adjacent-channel interference (ACI) Intersymbol interference (ISI)   6. What material can block electromagnetic fields? Typical materials used for electromagnetic shielding include sheet metal, metal screen, and metal foam. Common sheet metals for shielding include copper, brass, nickel, silver, steel, and tin.   7. What blocks electromagnetic interference? Carbons. Carbon materials (e.g., coke, graphite, graphene, carbon fiber, carbon nanofiber and carbon nanotube) are not only conductive electrically, they are good absorbers of electromagnetic radiation over a wide frequency range.   8. Can humans cause electromagnetic interference? The human body functions as an antenna in the low-frequency band used by HBC. Owing to this antenna function, electromagnetic waves radiating from electronic devices or wireless services cause electromagnetic interference (EMI) in HBC devices.   9. What are two sources of electromagnetic interference that can affect data transmission? Electromagnetic interference can be categorized as follows: Narrowband EMI or RFI interference typically emanates from intended transmissions, such as radio and TV stations or mobile phones. Broadband EMI or RFI interference is unintentional radiation from sources such as electric power transmission lines.   10. What is the EMC? Electromagnetic Compatibility, also known as EMC, is the interaction of electrical and electronic equipment with its electromagnetic environment, and with other equipment. All electronic devices have the potential to emit electromagnetic fields. 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A high-output-power balanced power amplifier is designed with power-combining architecture for satellite communication terminals. The power-combining architecture introduces a ±45° phase shift in the output matching network of two amplifiers, which makes the balanced power amplifier more tolerant to load mismatch and less sensitive to load variation. This balanced power amplifier is implemented with InGaP/GaAs HBT process. Under the band of 1.5 GHz to 1.7 GHz and the supply voltage of 5 V, the measured results show that 32 dB of the gain, 38 dBm of the saturated output power and 43% of power added efficiency (PAE) are achieved, and a good radio frequency performance can be maintained under load mismatch conditions. Power Amplifier ( PA ) Basics and fundamental tutorial on radio frequency   Catalog Ⅰ Introduction of Power Amplifier 1.1 Background of power amplifier 1.2 Application of power amplifier in   power combination scheme 1.3 High power balanced power amplifier Ⅱ Design and Analysis of balanced Power   Amplifier 2.1 Design of Integral circuit 2.2 Circuit Analysis Ⅲ Test result Ⅳ Conclusion FAQ     Ⅰ Introduction of power amplifier 1.1 Background of power amplifier In recent years, with the development of economy, satellite communication and navigation systems are widely used in electronics and automobile industry,and the demand for power amplifiers of handheld terminal transmitters is increasing.These power amplifiers require greater power output and better stability to meet the performance requirements of satellite communications and navigation systems. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the practical and reliable high power integrated power amplifier used in the handheld terminal of satellite communication and navigation system. The traditional single-terminal multi-stage integrated power amplifier is not only low in output power, due to the influence of its own semiconductor physical characteristics and the limitations of processing technology, heat dissipation, impedance matching, etc, but the output power will also decrease rapidly with the increase of frequency. In order to improve the output power, the power combination technology is a practical and easy method to implement. At the same time, the balanced power amplifier is widely used in the power synthesis scheme because of its insensitive load and wider bandwidth than the single-ended power amplifier.    1.2 Application of power amplifier in power combination scheme In reference, a high linearity and high efficiency power amplifier is realized by balanced synthesis method. The power amplifier has the advantages of flat gain characteristics and more stability than the corresponding single-ended amplifier in a wide band. However, the introduction of orthogonal 3dB couplers at the input and output ends makes the power amplifier require more discrete devices, which is not conducive to miniaturization and integration. In reference, a novel balanced synthesis architecture was used to design a load insensitive power amplifier.This kind of power amplifier adds ±45 °phase shift network to the upper input and lower output terminals, and finally combines the two power channels through the Wilkinson synthesizer at the output end. This design not only achieves high efficiency and linearity, but also has good stability when the load changes. It is widely used in 3G WCDMA mobile phone terminals. However, the introduction of Wilkinson synthesizer also brings many disadvantages, such as large insertion loss, increasing integration cost and complexity. In reference, on the basis of reference, the ±45°phase shift network in the output end of the power amplifier is improved and optimized, the Wilkinson synthesizer is removed either, which makes the power amplifier insensitive to the load change while achieving high efficiency and high linearity.This design reduces the integrated devices, reduces the cost, and is widely used in modern 3G smart phone terminals.   1.3 High power balanced power amplifier Based on the comprehensive consideration of output power and stability, a high power balanced power amplifier based on InGaP/GaAs HBT process, operating in the 1.5-1.7 GHz band, is designed in this article. The test results show that the balanced power amplifier has high output power and power addition efficiency (PAE), and the circuit can still maintain good RF performance when the load mismatches. Ⅱ Design and analysis of balanced power amplifier 2.1 Design of Integral circuit  Due to the superior linearity and high efficiency of HBT process in RF IC design, a balanced power amplifier working in 1.5-1.7 GHz band is designed by using InGaP/GaAs HBT process in this article. The overall circuit structure is shown in figure 1. The balanced power amplifier circuit includes the same upper and lower branch amplifiers, and the input and output matching circuits of ±45°phase-shifting networks. In order to obtain a higher gain, the upper and lower branches are designed using a three-stage power amplifier structure, in which the first stage works in a class A to obtain a high linearity; in order to take into account the linearity and efficiency of the overall power amplifier, the second and third stages work in Class AB.   Figure 1. A balanced power amplifier circuit   In order to achieve a good compromise between efficiency and linearity, the biasing circuit adopts self-adaptive linearizing bias.By adding one inductor and one capacitance to the input matching circuit of the upper and lower branches, the balanced power amplifier generates ±45°phase shift to the input signal, thus realizing that the upper and lower channels of the amplifier work in an orthogonal state. A LC resonant network with a resonant frequency of 2Ω0 is added to the output matching, where Ω0 is the fundamental frequency, which is equivalent to getting a load of second harmonic short circuit at the same time, thus realizing the suppression of the second harmonic. The structure is similar to that of F power amplifier, and is beneficial to obtain higher efficiency. The main characteristic of the circuit in this article is that the output matching circuit of the upper and lower branches added a ±45°phase shift network, the upper branch adds a -45°phase shift network with a low pass filter structure, and the lower branch adds a +45°phase shift network with a high pass filter structure. The balanced power amplifier designed by this synthetic structure has the advantages of small space usage, simple structure and easy implementation. At the same time, it can make the balanced power amplifier more tolerant to load mismatch and insensitive to the change of load.   2.2 Circuit Analysis When the balanced power amplifier is in operation, the input signal is coupled to the A node through the blocking capacitor, and two signals are separated from the A node into the upper and lower branches respectively, because the three-stage amplifier in the upper and lower branches is exactly the same, they sharing an equal input impedance, so the power of the two signals separated at the A node is equal. The separated signals are transmitted to the input end of the amplifier through the opposite 45°phase change of the upper and lower branches respectively, and then the orthogonal signals are amplified by the three-stage amplifier of the upper and lower branches. The orthogonal signal of the upper and lower branches undergoes an opposite phase shift of 45° in the output matching network, so the same signal with the same phase and the same amplitude is realized at point B, and the output power of point B is the sum of those of the two amplifiers, finally the balanced power amplifier can obtain higher output power. The balanced power amplifier is equivalent to the three-port network shown in figure 2. Because the upper and lower branch of amplifiers are exactly the same,it can be considered that the amplifiers of the upper and lower branches have the same output reflection coefficient ΓPA. After passing through ±45°phase shift network, we can obtain ΓPAе −j2ΔΦ and ΓPAе +j2ΔΦ respectively. Therefore, the equivalent output impedance of the upper and lower branches viewed from the ab surface to the left in figure 2 is respectively as follows:   The equivalent output impedance ZL of the network viewed from the terminal to the left can be obtained in parallel by ZL1 and ZL2: The output reflection coefficient of node B is: By substituting formula (1)-(3) into equation (4) and simplifying, the output reflection coefficient of the balanced power amplifier is as follows: When ΔΦ=45°, you have: It is shown that the output reflection coefficient and VSWR of the balanced power amplifier are twice as much as that of the single branch power amplifier. Therefore, when the load mismatch occurs, the load mismatch tolerance of the balanced power amplifier is higher than that of the single-branch power amplifier after the ±45°phase shift output matching network is introduced. Figure 2. Circuit equivalent diagram In order to analyze the performance of the balanced power amplifier in the case of load mismatch, the equivalent circuit of figure 2 is simulated and analyzed. When the load mismatch (such as VSWR=3:1), the load impedance (normalized) of the upper and lower branch amplifiers varies with the phase ψ of the reflection coefficient Γ, as shown in figure 3. By comparing the load impedance of the upper and lower branches, it can be seen that they have a phase difference of 180°. Because of the change of the load impedance of the upper and lower branches, the corresponding current is changed, and the phase difference of 180°occurs between the two. The collector of the two third-stage amplifiers of the balanced power amplifier is single power supply, so the current of the upper and lower branches compensates each other, resulting in little change in the total current, as shown in Figure 4. Therefore, when the load mismatch of the balanced power amplifier occurs, the change of working current is relatively small, that is, not sensitive to the change of load. The load insensitive effect of using this balancing architecture is similar to that of classical balanced power amplifier which is realized by using orthogonal 3 dB coupler. Figure 3. Changes in the load of the structure (normalized) when VSWR=3:1 In the case of terminal mismatch (VSWR=3:1), the single end circuit architecture and the present balanced architecture are compared as shown in Fig. 5 with the same output power of 38 dBm. It can be seen from figure 5 that the output power of the single-ended circuit architecture fluctuates greatly with of the phase ψ of the reflection coefficient Γ, while the output power of the balanced architecture in this article is relatively flat. At the same time, compared with the circuit architecture without phase shift, the in-phase circuit architecture has more advantages than the single-ended circuit architecture, but the output power of the balanced architecture is the flattest and can work stably. Figure 4. Changes of current of the structure (normalized) when VSWR=3:1 Figure 5. Comparison with the output power (normalized) changes in three kinds of circuits when VSWR=3:1   Ⅲ Test result  In this post, the balanced power amplifier is fabricated by InGaP/GaAs HBT technology. The three-stage amplifier and bias circuit with upper and lower branches are realized in the chip with an DIE area of 0.9 mm×0.8 mm. The choke inductor, input matching and output matching circuit are realized out of the chip. Considering the heat dissipation of the power amplifier, the whole thing is integrated on the Fr4 substrate with an area of 8 mm×8 mm. Figure 6 is the physical diagram of the circuit.The working voltage of the balanced power amplifier is 5 V and the total static current is about 310 mA. Using Agilent's network analyzer E5071C to measure the small signal S parameters S21, S11, S22 of the balanced power amplifier, as shown in figure 7: S21 > 31 dB (in the band of 1.5 GHz-1.7 GHz with a variation of less than 1 dB) S11 < -12 dB S22 < -10 dB The test results show that the design has good small signal performance. Using Agilent's signal generator N5182A and spectrometer N9030A to build the test platform, inputting continuous wave (CW) and the performance of the balanced power amplifier is measured at 1.5,1.616 and 1.7 GHz, as shown in figure 8. It can be seen from the diagram that the gain of the balanced power amplifier in the frequency band is about 32 dB, the in-band gain flatness is ±0.3 dB, the saturation power is more than 38 dBm/6.3 WN, and the power additional efficiency is greater than 43 dB. At the same time, according to the gain curve of each frequency point, the balanced power amplifier has good AM-AM characteristic and 1dB compression point is about 37 dBm. The third order intermodulation distortion (IMD3) and the fifth order intermodulation distortion (IMD5) of the balanced power amplifier are measured by using a two-tone signal with a deviation of 2 MHz, as shown in figure 9. The results show that the balanced power amplifier has good linearity. In general, the balanced power amplifier not only has high gain, high output power and high efficiency, but also has good linearity.  Figure 6. Chip physical diagram Figure 7. S parameter test results Figure 8. Test performance in frequency band when CW signal is input In order to verify the tolerance of the balanced power amplifier to the load mismatch and the load insensitivity, and the balanced power amplifier can still work properly when VSWR=20:1, a microwave manual tuner is connected to the output of the power amplifier. And when the working frequency is 1.616 GHz, the input power Pin=10 dBm and voltage standing-wave ratio VSWR=3:1, the output power of the balanced power amplifier changes with the reflection coefficient phase, as shown in Figure 10. The figure shows that the output power is about 35.7 dBm, with a range of ±0.7 dBm. Therefore, the performance of the balanced power amplifier is stable when the load is mismatched to a certain extent. Figure 9. Test performance of IMD3 and IMD5 Figure 10. Changes of output power when VSWR=3:1 Ⅳ Conclusion In this post, a high power balanced power amplifier is designed by using the balance architecture, the chip area is 8 mm×8 mm by using InGaP/GaAs HBT process and the total static current is about 310 mA at a operating voltage of 5V. When the CW signal is input, the gain can be up to 32 dBm in the band of 1.5-1.7 GHz, the saturation output power psat is 38 dBm, and the additional power efficiency is 43%. Beyond that, it can still work stably when the load mismatches. This balanced power amplifier is practical, reliable and safe, and can be used in handheld terminal of the satellite communication and navigation system.   FAQ     1. What is a power amplifier used for? The function of a power amplifier is to raise the power level of input signal. It is required to deliver a large amount of power and has to handle large current. The base of transistor is made thicken to handle large currents.   2. How does a power amplifier work? The power amplifier works on the basic principle of converting the DC power drawn from the power supply into an AC voltage signal delivered to the load. Although the amplification is high the efficiency of the conversion from the DC power supply input to the AC voltage signal output is usually poor.   3. Does a power amp make a difference? A better amp will make your speakers play louder and sound better, but it won't make bad speakers sound like good speakers. Many speakers have a "maximum wattage rating" on the back. ... High-end amplifier companies make amps with more than 1,000 watts, and you could plug in a $50 speaker into it with no problem.   4. What is power amplifier circuit? A power amplifier circuit is used to drive the loads like speakers with minimum output impedance. ... In this mode the output is an inverted amplified signal which is at low power. Two Darlington power transistors are arranged in a class AB configuration to amplify the power level of this signal.   5. How do you make a power amp circuit? Amplifier power gain and design. As power is the voltage multiplied by the current in a circuit, the power gain can simply be expressed as the product of the two. It is also possible to use the voltage and current levels to provide gain expressed in dB, but any changes in impedance must be accounted for.   6. What is balanced amplifier? A balanced amplifier has two amplifying devices that are run in quadrature. That is, they are operating 90 degrees apart in transmission phase. ... Balanced amplifiers may more immune to load pull effects than in-phase power combining schemes, because the two reflection coefficients are seen 180 degrees out of phase.   7. What is the difference between amplifier and power amplifier? The crucial difference between a voltage amplifier and a power amplifier is that a voltage amplifier increases the voltage level of the applied input signal.   8. Why do we need power amplifier? The function of a power amplifier is to raise the power level of input signal. It is required to deliver a large amount of power and has to handle large current. The base of transistor is made thicken to handle large currents.   9. What power amplifier do I need? Generally you should pick an amplifier that can deliver power equal to twice the speaker's program/continuous power rating. This means that a speaker with a “nominal impedance” of 8 ohms and a program rating of 350 watts will require an amplifier that can produce 700 watts into an 8 ohm load.   10. Does a power amp improve sound quality? No, amplifiers don't improve sound quality. They just increase the signals to required levels. However if amplifiers have equaliser or other signal processing facility, they can make it sound different and possibly more suitable for listening pleasure. But again that is the work of signal processing part of amplifier.  

  Solid-state drive or Solid-state disk, abbreviated as SSD, is a computer storage device made of integrated circuits. You can use non-volatile memory (mainly NAND Flash in flash memory) as a permanent storage device, or use volatile memory (such as DRAM) as a temporary storage device. Solid-state hard drives often use SATA, PCI Express, mSATA, M.2, ZIF, IDE, U.2, CF, CFast... and other interfaces. At present, due to the difference between the price per unit and the maximum storage capacity of the mechanical hard disk, the solid state hard disk cannot completely replace the mechanical hard disk for the time being.   How do SSDs Work? | How does your Smartphone store data?  Catalog I What is Solid State Drive? II SSD Classification 2.1 Solid State Drive based on FLASH   Memory 2.2 Solid State Drive based on DRAM III Development History IV SSD Basic Structure 4.1 Main Control Chip 4.2 Cache Chip 4.3 Flash Memory Chip V Compare with Traditional Hard Disk VI SSD Advantages and Disadvantages 6.1 SSD Advantages 6.2 SSD Disadvantages FAQ I What is Solid State Drive?  Solid State Drive, also called solid state disk or SSD, is a hard disk made from an array of solid-state electronic memory chips, consisting of a control unit and a memory unit (FLASH chips / DRAM chips). The interface specification and definition, function and usage method of solid state disk are identical to those of ordinary hard disk drive, and the product shape and size are also the same as that of ordinary hard disk drive.  The working temperature range of SSD chip is very wide: Commercial product: 0~70℃; Industrial product: -40~85℃. Although the cost of manufacturing an SSD is high, it is still gradually being popularized into the DIY market. Due to the difference between solid state drive technology and traditional hard disk drive technology, there are many new memory manufacturers. Manufacturers only need to buy NAND memory, and then they can manufacture solid state disk with proper control chip. The new generation solid state drive generally uses SATA-2 interface, SATA-3 interface, SAS interface, MSATA interface, PCI-E interface, NGFF interface, CFast interface and SFF-8639 interface. II SSD Classification There are two kinds of storage media in solid state drive, one is FLASH chip and the other is DRAM. 2.1 Solid State Drive based on FLASH Memory Solid state drive based on FLASH memory(IDE FLASH DISK, Serial ATA Flash Disk) is using FLASH chips as its storage media. Its appearance can be made into a variety of forms, such as: Laptop hard drive, Micro hard disk, memory card, USB flash disk and etc. The biggest advantage of this SSD is that it is movable, and the data protection is not controlled by power supply. Also, it can be applied to various environments, but its service life is not too long, so it is suitable for individual users. In a flash-based solid state drive, memory cells are divided into two categories: SLC (Single Layer Cell) and MLC (Multi-level Cell).  Solid state drive based on FLASH memory The characteristics of SLC is its high cost, small volume and high speed. And for MLC, it is with characteristics of large volume, low cost but low speed. Each unit of MLC is 2bit, which is exactly twice as many as SLC. However, due to the large amount of data stored in each MLC storage cell and the relative complexity of the structure, the probability of error will increase, so the error correction must be carried out. This action will cause its performance to lag significantly behind the SLC flash memory with simple structure. In addition, the advantage of flash memory is that the number of duplicates is up to 100000 times, which is 10 times higher than that of MLC flash memory. In order to ensure the lifetime of MLC, the control chip is calibrated and the intelligent wear balance algorithm is used, so that the write times of each memory cell can be divided equally, and the mean time between failures (MTBF) can reach 1 million hours.   2.2 Solid State Drive based on DRAM Solid state drive based on DRAM is using DRAM as the storage medium. However, its application range is currently narrow. It follows the design of traditional hard disk, which can be volume setup and managed by most file system tools of operating system, and provides industrial standard PCI and FC interfaces for connecting hosts or servers. The application can be divided into two kinds: SSD hard disk and SSD hard disk array. It is a kind of high performance memory and has a long service life. The downside of it is its need for independent power supply to protect the data security. Solid state drive based on DRAM III Development History > 1956: IBM invented the world's first hard disk. > 1968: IBM restates the feasibility of Winchester technology, which established the development direction of hard disk. > 1970: StorageTek developed the first solid state hard drive. > 1989: The world's first solid state hard disk occurred. > 2006.03: Samsung took the lead in launching a solid state hard disk laptop with 32GB capacity > 2007.01: SanDisk released an 1.8-inch solid state hard disk with 32GB and 2.5-inch model with 32GB in March. > 2007.06: Toshiba has launched its first solid-state hard disk laptop with 120GB capacity. Intel SSD 520 Series > 2008. 09: The official launch of MemoRight SSD marks the accelerated entry of Chinese enterprises into solid state hard disk industry.  > 2009: With the development of SSD , all the manufacturers crushed into this industry , and the storage virtualization then entered a new stage . > 2010.2: Magnesia released the world's first solid-state disk with SATA 6Gbps interface, which breaking through the speed of SATAII interface reading and writing(300MB/s). > The end of 2010: Renice launched and patented the world's first high-performance mSATA solid state disk. > 2012: Apple uses 512GB solid state hard drives on its laptops. > 2015.08.01: TEKISM introduced the first mobile solid-state hard disk with Type-C interface. The SSD provides the latest Type-C interface and supports double-sided insertion of the USB interface. > 2016.01.01: Chinese storage company TEKISM has released the world's first Type-C fingerprint encrypted SSD. SSD M300   IV SSD Basic Structure The FLASH based SSD is the main category of solid state drives. Its internal structure is very simple. The main body of the solid state hard disk is actually a PCB board, and the most basic accessory on this PCB board is the control chip, cache chip(some low-end disks have no caching chip) and NAND flash that used for data storage. The more common solid state hard drives on the market are: LSISandForce, Indilinx, JMicron, Marvell, Phison, Goldendisk and Samsung. The main control chip is the brain of solid state hard drive. One of its functions is to reasonably allocate the load of data on each flash memory chip, and the other is to transfer the whole data and connect the flash memory chip with the external SATA interface. The ability of different master control is very different in data processing ability, algorithm, flash chip reading and writing control , which will directly lead to a ten times gap of solid state hard disk performance. Different SSD 4.1 Main Control Chip Table 1. Brand, model and product of the main control chip for solid state drive 4.2 Cache Chip   The cache chip is next to the main control chip. Solid state drive and traditional hard disk both require high speed cache chip to assist the main control chip for data processing. It is important to be noted here that there are some cheap solid state drive solutions to save the cost of the cache chip, which will have a certain impact on the performance in use.   4.3 Flash Memory Chip Apart from main control chip and caching chip, chips on the other place on PCB board are mainly NAND Flash chips. NAND Flash memory chips are divided into SLC, MLC and TLC NAND Flash memory.    V Compare with Traditional Hard Disk The interface specification and definition, function and usage method of solid state drives are almost the same as those of ordinary hard disk, and the shape and size of solid state drives are basically the same as that of ordinary 2.5 inch hard disk. Solid state drive has the advantages of fast reading and writing, light mass, low power consumption and small volume, which is not possessed by traditional mechanical hard disk. At the same time, its disadvantage is obvious. Although IDC believes that SSD is in the mainstream of the storage market, its price is still relatively high and its capacity is relatively low, once the hardware is damaged, the data is difficult to recover, and others think that the durability of solid state drives is relatively short. The main factors that influence the performance of solid state drive are main control chip, NAND flash media and firmware. Under the same conditions, what kind of interface is adopted may also affect the performance of SSD. The mainstream interface is SATA (including two kinds of interfaces for 3Gb/s and 6Gb/s) and the SSD of the PCIe 3.0 interface. Duo to the difference of the design and the principle of data reading and writing between SSD and the common disk, the internal structure of SSD is also very different. In general, the structure of solid state disk (SSD) is relatively simple and can be disassembled; therefore, most of the articles we see about SSD performance evaluation include an internal disassembly diagram of SSD. On the other hand, the data reading and writing of the ordinary mechanical disk is to lift the magnetic head by the air produced by the high speed rotation of the disc, which makes the magnetic head infinitely close to the disk without contact, and the stepper motor is used to push the head to read the data of changing the track. Therefore, its internal structure is relatively complex, more sophisticated, which is generally not allowed to disassemble. Once human disassembly, there is a strong risk of damage on the disk and disk can not work properly.This is why disassembly diagrams are largely invisible when evaluating ordinary disks.   VI SSD Advantages and Disadvantages 6.1 SSD Advantages   6.1.1 Fast reading and writing Using flash memory as storage medium, the read speed of SSD is faster than mechanical hard disk. SSD does not use (magnetic) head, and its seek time is almost 0. The speed of continuous writing is amazing, and most SSD manufacturers will claim that their solid state drives continue to read and write faster than 500MB / s! The speed of solid state hard disk is not only reflected in continuous reading and writing, but also in random reading and writing speed, which is directly reflected in most of the daily operation. Associated with this are extremely low access times, with the most common 7200 rotary mechanical drives running at 12-14 milliseconds, while solid state drives can easily reach 0.1 milliseconds or less.    6.1.2 Shock resistance Traditional hard drives are disk-type, data is stored in the disk sector. The solid state drive is made from flash memory particles (mp3, U disk, etc.), so there are no mechanical components inside the SSD. This will not affect its normal use even when moving at high speed or even with tilting, and minimize the possibility of data loss in the event of collisions and oscillations. Compared with the traditional hard disk, solid state drive has an absolute advantage.   6.1.3 Low power consumption  The power consumption of solid state drive is lower than that of traditional hard disk.   6.1.4 Noiseless Solid state drive has no mechanical motors and fans inside, thus it works with a noise value of 0 dB.Flash based solid state drives have lower energy consumption and lower calorific emissions (but the consumption of high-end or large-capacity products will be larger). There are no mechanical parts inside, so there will be no mechanical failure, no collision, no shock or vibration. Because the solid state hard disk uses the flash memory chip without mechanical parts, it has the characteristics of low heat emission and fast heat dissipation.   6.1.5 Wide range of working temperature A typical hard disk drive can only work in the range of 5 to 55℃ and most solid state drives can work at -10~70℃. The solid state hard disk is smaller in size and lighter in weight than the mechanical disk of the same capacity. The interface specification and definition, function and usage method of solid state drives are the same as those of ordinary hard disk, and the product shape and size are the same as that of ordinary hard disk. The working temperature range of the chip is very wide(-40~85 ℃).   6.1.6 Lightweight Solid state drives are lighter in weight, 20-30 grams lighter than regular 1.8-inch hard disks.   6.2 SSD Disadvantages  6.2.1 Capacity The maximum capacity of solid state drive is only 4TB. It is SanDisk Optimus MAX   6.2.2 Limited Service Life Solid state drive flash memory has the problem of limitation of erasing times.  A flash memory is completely erased once called a P / E, so the life of flash memory takes P/E units. The lifetime of the 34nm flash chip is about 5000 P / E, while the lifetime of the 25nm is about 3000 P / E. With the improvement of SSD firmware algorithm, the new SSD can provide less unnecessary writing. An 120GB solid state drive that writes 120GB of files to one P / E. In practical use, individual users often write in random rather than continuously. So there will be higher probability of bad sectors. In addition, while each sector of the solid state drive can be repeatedly erased 100000 times(SLC), in some applications such as LOG records in operating system , A sector may be read and written over and over again, in which case the actual lifetime of a solid state disk is not yet tested. However, with the equalization algorithm, the life expectancy of the memory unit is increased by 100000 writes, and the low cost MLCs have only 10, 000 write lives, while the cheap TLC flash memory is only 500 to 1, 000 times.   6.2.3 Expensive The price of the 128GB solid state drive on the market is around RMB550, while the price of the 256GB is around RMB950 .   FAQ   1. Is SSD better than HDD? SSDs in general are more reliable than HDDs, which again is a function of having no moving parts. ... SSDs commonly use less power and result in longer battery life because data access is much faster and the device is idle more often. With their spinning disks, HDDs require more power when they start up than SSDs.   2. What is a solid state drive used for? A solid-state drive (SSD) is a solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuit assemblies to store data persistently, typically using flash memory, and functioning as secondary storage in the hierarchy of computer storage.   3. Is a 256GB SSD better than a 1TB hard drive? A 1TB hard drive stores eight times as much as a 128GB SSD, and four times as much as a 256GB SSD. The bigger question is how much you really need. In fact, other developments have helped to compensate for the lower capacities of SSDs.   4. Do I need HDD if I have SSD? You don't need both but having a SSD for your operating system and a HDD for your storage drive might be the best bang for your buck. Otherwise, you only need one; a HDD is cheaper, larger, slower, and more prone to data loss. A SSD are normally smaller in storage for the same price but faster and shock resistant.   5. Should I upgrade to SSD? It's time to upgrade to an SSD if you're still using a mechanical hard drive in your computer. ... Solid-state drives are so much faster because they don't have a spinning magnetic platter and moving head. After upgrading, you'll be amazed at the performance improvements and wondering why you waited so long.   6. What are the pros and cons of a solid state drive? a. SSD is faster. b. SSD can take a licking c. HDD is cheaper; SSD is still expensive. d. HDD has greater storage capacity than SSD   7. Do solid state drives crash? SSDs can fail, but in a different way than traditional HDDs. While the latter often fail because of mechanical issues, SSDs may fail due to the methods used to write information. ... Each P/E cycle gradually degrades the memory of an SSD's cells until they eventually become worn down.   8. Can I put SSD and HDD together? The answer is absolutely yes. You can install both, but, SSD will have faster SSD speeds and HDD will still have slower HDD speeds. It is an excellent idea to use SSD and HDD at the same time. An SSD boasts many distinctive merits such as fast loading speed, low power consumption, and etc.     9. How much faster is a SSD than a HDD? As noted above,solid-state drives can read/write speeds of around 550 MB/s faster than a hard disk drive. SSDs can go even faster, provided your computer can handle it. A PCIe SSD can achieve anywhere from 1.2 GB/s to 2.2 GB/s - assuming you have a motherboard that can handle these speeds.   10. How can I tell if my SSD is failing? So here are four signs of SSD failure: Sign #1: Your computer takes a long time to save files. Sign #2: You have to restart often. Sign #3: Your computer crashes during boot. Sign #4: You receive a read-only error.

Warm hints: The word in this article is about 3000 words and reading time is about 15 minutesSummaryThis article is mainly about space monitoring and location technology of AR&VR equipment. All AR&VR products must have accurate spatial monitoring and positioning capabilities in order to achieve a full range of head， hand interactions in order to provide users with a more realistic virtual experience. CoreResearch on space monitoring and location technology of AR&VR equipmentPurposeIntroduce space monitoring and location technology of AR&VR equipmentProductAR&VR EquipmentCategoryElectronic productsApplicationsAR&VR technologyTechnologyInside-out space monitoring and positioning and outside-in space monitoring and positioning     Catalogs CatalogsI、Current Status of AR&VR ProductsV、 PC VRII、Cardboard productsVI、Space positioning technology categoryIII、Head motion controlled all-in-one            machine1. Inside-out space monitoring and positioning technologyIV、 AIO machine with space monitoring and positioning2. Outside-in space monitoring and positioning technology  Introduction I、Current Status of AR&VR ProductsThere are many AR&VR products already on the market. The price varies from Cardboards to Hololens, and the user experience varies greatly. First of all, VR products can be divided into the following categories: cardboard products, one-touch control integrated machine, AIO machine with space monitoring and positioning, PC VR.  DetailII、Cardboard productsCardboard productsThis kind of product is the simplest VR product. It comes from Google's carton VR box. Simply, it uses two convex lenses to project the contents of the mobile phone into screens. It uses the IMU inside the phone to judge the user's head movement to adjust the movement direction of the VR display content. This kind of product began to ship a large number of domestic white cards in 2015, but the overall effect of VR depends on the configuration of the mobile phone and the quality of the optical lens. It is only an entry-level VR experience product.The first generation VR products of game companies and some domestic video content are basically in this form. The most representative is the Storm Box, with a BT control handle for menu selection. The emergence of this type of product has indeed played a big role in the promotion of the entire VR industry, but its drawbacks are also very obvious. The Cardboard-style VR device ushered in a particularly big opportunity in 2016, that is, Google proposed Daydream VR. Google wants to enhance the VR Cardboard users’ experience, and hopes to be able to dominate the entire VR ecosystem in 2016. The Daydream mobile phone Pixel, Pixel XL and Daydream Viewer wearing the Cardboard were released in the year, and also equipped with a built-in IMU remote control handle. According to Google's requirements for VR device user experience, it must reach a mobile phone with a certain hardware configuration, and with Daydream Viewer running related VR applications, so that users will not be dizzy. Since 2016, with the launch of products such as Huawei P9 and Lenovo MotoZ, there are more and more mobile phones supporting Daydream. It is expected that, in 2017, these products will completely break the stalemate of the poor Cardboard user experience.III、Head motion controlled all-in-one machineAll-in-one machineAIO machine, as its name, is a VR device that does not need to be inserted into a mobile phone or connected to a PC. Currently, there are representative DaPeng, Xiaoniao, KanKan, etc. Most of the products are listed in 2016. The features of these products are basically the same use of 1080p or 2K resolution display screens (some of which also use 2Kx2 dual screens) with specially designed FIN products designed for VR products aspherical optical lens. The overall picture quality and distortion have improved a lot. However, these products have a common feature, that is, only a simple head control, can only sit or stand in place by shaking his head to achieve VR control, can not do the first hand interaction. In order to remedy this defect, there are currently some external accessories with spatial position detection (the built-in IMU handle, somatosensory backpack, spatial positioning light ball, etc.) to enhance the overall VR user experience.IV、 AIO machine with space monitoring and positioningAIO machine with space monitoring and positioningSpace monitoring and positioning are generally two ways, Inside-out and Outside-in. Inside-out senses the spatial information outside the device through the built-in sensor and performs related positioning. The Outside-in is just the opposite. It uses an external sensor to sense the position of the VR device and provides positioning information to the VR application. For the all-in-one machine, the current view has selected the Inside-out solution without exception, thus avoiding the need to install an external sensor in advance. The user can pick up the VR device at any time and anywhere. It is expected that some of the major products coming on the market in 2017, such as the second generation of the DaPeng AIO Machine and the Storm AIO Machine, will have space positioning capabilities, which will greatly enhance the VR user experience, especially VR games.V、 PC VRPC VRThe most representative products are the HTC Vive, Sony PSVR and HTC Oculus. After the three swordsmen went public in 2016, the HTC Vive has become a standard configuration for the VR experience room. Many other industry customizations are based on Vive. Sony PSVR has sold about 1 million units in less than half a year, which has greatly improved the overall level of user experience in the entire VR industry. The feature of these three products is the use of external space positioning technology. For example, Vive uses an external infrared laser transmitter, head and handle senses transmitter location to determine its position and trajectory. PSVR and Oculus use external sensors to sense the visible light or infrared light emitted by the headlights and the handle to determine the positions of the heads and the handles, so that the heads and the handles can accurately know their respective relative positions and trajectories in space at any time. This can make the application of VR more realistic.Next, let’s talk about AR products. At present, there is a big gap between AR products. Some AR glasses products only project virtual information, images, etc., and are not actually related to the actual environment where the user is located. Such products can only achieve 6DOF motion tracking by the projected virtual information following the head movement. But it is impossible to fuse the virtual object with the actual environment where the user is. For example, the famous ODG, the latest product only supports 6DOF motion tracking, there is no spatial positioning function.AR product ODGShanghai Zhishi's smart glasses also have similar functions to those of ODG, but their positioning is a live broadcast from the first point of view. Therefore, only relevant information and videos for shooting can be displayed in the glasses without spatial positioning. However, it is understood that they are also developing a built-in TOF depth camera glasses, which can achieve 6DOF + spatial positioning function.Shanghai Zhishi's smart glassesThe currently available AR products have the best space monitoring and positioning capabilities. The best match for virtual objects is the Lenovo Phab2 Pro based on Google's Tango space positioning technology and the Microsoft Hololens. Although these two products are very different in shape, they are essentially the full integration of 6DOF+SLAM, achieving spatial positioning and motion tracking. Their AR effects can basically be virtual objects and the actual environment. Convergence, no matter how the user moves or views from what angle, the feeling is just like the real object is in front of me. However, Hololens' accuracy and stability of 6DOF+SLAM are still higher than those of Tango in terms of the effect of actual use. This is closely related to the choice of hardware design platform, type and number of sensors, and core algorithms.Hololens ARIn addition, there are actually many companies in the country that are developing related AR products. Among them, the distinctive feature of Micro Eye's SMAKKEST is not only similar to Hololens, but also similar to Hololens in terms of function. The effect of 6DOF+SLAM is said to be recognized by Hololens.  AnalysisVI、Space positioning technology categorySpace monitoring and positioning technology, in fact, can be divided into two major categories initially, one is the Inside-out space monitoring and positioning, and the other is the Outside-in space monitoring and positioning.1. Inside-out space monitoring and positioning technologyInside-out space monitoring and positioning technology, technology is essentially similar to the process of human-to-environmentally-aware environment of the human eyewear. It senses the external space from the inside of the device and is therefore called the Inside-out positioning method. Inside-out space monitoring and positioning technology is also divided into two categories. One is the spatial monitoring and positioning based on SLAM technology. This is also a basic function required by the fiery robotics industry. SLAM is the English abbreviation for simultaneous localizatiion and mapping. It means that the device itself starts to move from an unknown location in an unknown environment, locates itself according to location estimates and maps during the movement, and builds incremental maps based on its own positioning to achieve autonomous detection and positioning navigation of the device itself. . At present, most AR products use Inside-out spatial location technology.The representative products of the space monitoring and positioning technology based on SLAM are Lenovo Phab2 Pro Tango mobile phone and Hololens. Both use depth monitoring + Fisheye and IMU fusion for sports monitoring. The difference is that the depth monitoring technology is different (Tango uses TOF, and Hololens uses structured light) and the number of Fisheye motion and feature point monitoring is different. Hololens' spatial positioning effect is more accurate and stable than Tango's, and Hololens' effect is in low light and glass light transmission. The current Tango victory, but Tango technology is not static, the next generation of Tango technology also supports multiple Fisheye camera.The Lenovo Phab2 Pro Tango phone uses a TOF depth camera, a 155-degree FOV Fisheye motion monitoring camera and an RGB camera, Fisheye motion monitoring camera with IMU data fusion, feature point matching, providing the device with a complete trajectory The monitoring, together with the cloud image information of the TOF depth camera, can plot the position of the device itself in space and the trajectory of the movement in real time. At the same time, through Tango's own zone learning function, when returning to the space that has already passed, once the Fisheye camera By detecting the stored feature points and matching them, it is possible to quickly perform spatial positioning. This is very important for AR equipment and it ensures that users can quickly use it anytime, anywhere. The working principle of Tango is not explained here. You can refer to Lin Shigong's another article for detailed understanding.The working principle of TangoThe Hololens design of Microsoft is very unique and very affluent. It has newly developed an HPU (Holographic Processing Unit) based on Intel's CPU and GPU technology. The device adopts the configuration of CPU+GPU+HPU. Like Tango, it does not need to External PCs look to achieve complete space monitoring and positioning. On the sensor side, depth monitoring uses two structured light cameras with four structured light-grating emitters for depth monitoring. In addition, there are two Fisheye cameras on the left and right of Hololens, so that more feature points in the space environment can be monitored. Hololens' space positioning accuracy and stability are therefore much higher than those of Tango.HPU（Holographic Processing Unit）The other type is based on the marker (pointer) space monitoring and positioning technology, simply put some like two-dimensional code, special color graphics patterns or light spots as markers in the actual space, equipment to monitor these markers The location of the point to determine their position and movement trends. The HTC Vive is a representative of this type. The following figure shows the working principle of spatial location of the HTC Vive.The working principle of spatial location of the HTC ViveVive emits laser light through two fixed laser emitters. Each base station has an infrared LED array. Two infrared laser emitters with rotating shafts perpendicular to each other are distributed. One is X-axis scanning, and the other is Y-axis scanning. The lasers have a fixed phase difference of 180 degrees. When one of the lasers emits an X-axis scan, the other laser emits a Y-axis scan.The HTC Vive has a shell that is densely covered with 32 light sensors, each oriented in different directions. These sensors are used to receive the infrared laser emitted by a fixed laser emitter. The computer connected to Vive controls all the devices to operate synchronously. The light sensor on the head reveals the time when the laser light reaches each sensor in the X-axis and Y-axis directions and the phase relationship between the two different laser emitters, and the phase difference of each light sensor can be calculated. Accurately locate the head position and trajectory.There are 24 light sensor on the Vive handle. The working principle and head of the handle are the same. It will not be repeated here.The HTC Vive ShellIn addition, it is necessary to mention that domestic Ximmerse, they also introduced a VR device for the Outside-in space positioning package design, through this space positioning package, can provide space-free VR devices with similar accuracy with the HTC Vive Space monitoring and positioning capabilities. The positioning package includes a dual camera module, two control handles with a light ball. When used, the dual camera module is externally mounted on the head display. The dual camera captures the light ball of the control handle to determine the position of the handle in the space, and the handle Through BT to transmit its 6DOF information to the module, the module fuses the 6DOF and the position information of the ball to achieve omni-directional positioning, thereby improving the interaction of the first hand. The advantage of this solution is that under any ambient lighting conditions, the positioning accuracy is not affected by the ambient light, and the positioning accuracy is high. However, this solution cannot monitor and locate the overall space environment in which the user is located. It can only monitor the spatial position information of the photo ball handle, but its advantage is that the original VR device without space positioning can have at least similar HTC Vive. Spatial positioning capabilities.Ximmerse2. Outside-in space monitoring and positioning technologyOutside-in space monitoring and positioning technology is currently the VR device is a relatively mature space positioning technology, Sony PSVR and Oculus are based on a similar program, but Oculus is in an external infrared camera plus point initiative marks the way to get Higher accuracy and faster response time. The PS VR directly uses the PS 3's MOVE system. The principle is similar to that of the Kinect. An external binocular depth camera is used for motion recognition and tracking. There is a light indication on the head, and a different color light ball is at the top of the handle. The external dual camera checks the trajectory of the headlight and the ball on the handle at any time. At the same time, the PS StaTIon receives the IMU information of the head display and handle returned by the BT. , Through the calculation you can get a complete headshot and handle movement trajectory and positioning in space.PS StaTIonFrom the principle and the effect of actual use, the space monitoring and positioning precision of HTC Vive is not high, although Sony's gaming and PSVR wearing wearing their own moderate than Vive better, but the spatial positioning accuracy is not high, it affects the VR The overall experience of the game. So we see from Sony's official website a new spatial orientation of Sony patent, this patent is to be ready for the next generation of PVSR, from the description of the patent point of view should be similar to HTC's fixed laser emitters way, with this program The current practice of PSVR is the opposite. Instead of using an external camera to take pictures (outside-in positioning), the external VR signal is used to locate the direction of the VR helmet in space. This can provide similar HTC Vive usage accuracy (probably higher), and can capture the user's various poses and trajectories 360 degrees without dead ends.Outside-In positioningOculus space monitoring and positioning technology with Sony PSVR similar difference is PSVR camera uses a dual monitor visible external program, and is an active Oculus uses infrared light to the head and the handle are placed significant infrared emitting LED , Through an external infrared camera for shooting and capturing the headlights and infrared light spot information on the handle, so as to obtain head trajectory and handle movement trajectory and spatial position information.Whether it is Sony PSRV or Oculus's Outside-in program, there is a problem, that is, the external camera is fixed, and when the user is back to the camera, the camera can not detect the head and the handle on the light, may There is a possibility of missed supervision, thus affecting the user experience, which does not exist on the HTC Vive.Another Marker point-based Outside-in space monitoring and positioning technology is Ximmerse's photosphere with dual-camera solution. This is contrary to their previously mentioned Inside-out solution, where dual camera monitors have been placed. Indoor fixed position, and then put the ball in the VR head and handle, head and handle during the movement of a dual camera monitor recorded head and handle in the space of the three-dimensional position and their movement data, through BT or WiFi is passed to VR heads to perform related operations and processing, and feedback is implemented on the screen to allow them to freely move around in the virtual environment and interact with things in the virtual world.Lightball + Dual Camera SolutionAnalog of Lightball + Dual Camera SolutionHere is a video about Augmented Reality vs Virtual Reality:Augmented Reality vs Virtual Reality - AR vs VR | The Future ! | Tamil Tech  Book RecommendationVirtual, Augmented, and Mixed Realities in EducationThis book describes the current state of the art of various types of immersive learning: in research, in practice, and in the marketplace. It discusses advanced approaches in the design and development for various forms of immersive learning environments, and also the emerging innovations in assessment and research in the field.--by Dejian Liu, Chris Dede, Ronghuai Huang, John Richards Experience on Demand: What Virtual Reality Is, How It Works, and What It Can DoVirtual reality is able to effectively blur the line between reality and illusion, pushing the limits of our imagination and granting us access to any experience imaginable. With well-crafted simulations, these experiences, which are so immersive that the brain believes they’re real, are already widely available with a VR headset and will only become more accessible and commonplace. But how does this new medium affect its users, and does it have a future beyond fantasy and escapism?--by Jeremy Bailenson  Relevant information about "Research on Space Monitoring and Location Technology of AR&VR Equipment"About the article " Research on Space Monitoring and Location Technology of AR&VR Equipment", If you have better ideas, don't hesitate to  write your thoughts in the following comment area. You also can find more articles about electronic semiconductor through Google search engine, or refer to the following related articles.