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APEC 2014 Returns to Fort Worth with Enhanced |
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Attendees at APEC 2014 will find several technical features that will enhance their APEC experience. Following on the successful introduction of a mobile app at APEC 2013, attendees with smart phones will be able to download an App that will provide them with information about conference sessions and speakers, schedules of all events and exhibitor directory. The App will enable attendees to put together their schedule to make optimum use of their time at the conference. Other technical enhancements include:
In addition to a world-class program offering attendees over 400 high-quality technical papers, APEC will again offer a slate of Professional Education Seminars on Sunday and Monday. In addition, there will also be a series of 12 Industry Sessions where important and timely industry developments will be introduced. The ever-popular Micro-Mouse Contest will be held on Monday night after the opening evening exhibit. On Tuesday evening, after the exhibits close, everyone is invited to sit in on one of the engaging Rap Sessions that always generate a lot of dialog. The Wednesday evening Gala is always popular and this year will be no exception. APEC 2014 promises to be the largest APEC event ever – exceeding last year’s record-breaking attendance. This year we are planning on 3,500 attendees and around 200 exhibitors. If you haven’t already made plans to attend, don’t wait any longer. Come to Ft. Worth and be part of this exceptional event – truly The Premier Event in Applied Power Electronics™.
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PSMA 2013 Planning Meeting in Fort |
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 he 2013 PSMA Planning Meeting was held on September 21 at the Hilton Hotel in Fort Worth, TX with 17 attendees. The purpose of the Planning Meeting was to review where the Association is today, discuss issues and identify possible programs and projects that promise to bring value to the membership.
PSMA Chairman Carl Blake led the meeting and provided an overview of the membership statistics and the changes since the last meeting and the accomplishments since the last Planning Meeting. He emphasized that the technical committees are the heart of the organization and it is in these committees that the real work of PSMA is done. Michel Grenon, Secretary/Treasurer, prepared a 6-Quarter financial forecast that indicated that the levels of expenses are expected to increase moderately while income from membership dues will have modest growth and the APEC surpluses will continue at recent levels. He forecast that the Association will remain in good financial position which will allow funding to support Special Projects that should bring value to the membership.
There was a report from each of the technical committees which summarized their accomplishments in the past year and ongoing programs and projects. Seven of the technical committees have submitted proposals for Industry Sessions at APEC 2014. • The Alternate Energy Committee provided an update on committee members and plans for a four presentation Industry Session at APEC 2014. In addition, the committee is planning a pre-APEC 2014 one day workshop Saturday March 15 on Engineering Efficient Buildings which is being spearheaded by Philip Krein. • The Capacitor Committee provided a report summarizing their 2013 activities. In 2014 the committee will be focusing on organizing a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2015 updating the latest technical advances in capacitors.
• Ed Herbert, Co-Chair of the Energy Efficiency Committee, reported that the EPRI-PSMA Workshop, held the Saturday before APEC 2013 titled "Are You Smart Enough for the Smart Grid?" went well with 46 participants (organizers, speakers and attendees). The committee is considering having a follow-up workshop on “The Smart Grid” at APEC 2016. They are planning an Industry Session on “Energy Storage” for APEC 2014.
• The Energy Harvesting Committee provided a report summarizing the history of the committee, membership and recent accomplishments. At APEC 2013 the committee organized a seven presentation Industry Session titled “Forging Ahead: Global Commercialization of Energy Harvesting Technology”. The session included a Roundtable Discussion and, for the first time, a working demonstration of 6 energy harvesting systems which followed the session. For APEC 2014 the committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session on the technical details of key technologies that are driving successful commercialization in the areas of: Energy Harvesting transducers, energy conversion, energy storage, power management, ultra-low power microcontrollers, sensors and wireless radio solutions. In addition, at the end of the session there will be working demonstrations of energy harvesting systems.
• Steve Carlsen, Magnetics Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee conducted a survey to obtain input for future activities of the committee. For APEC 2014, the committee is organizing an Industry Session on “How are magnetics catching up to SiC and GaN?” The committee is also beginning to discuss and consider a Phase IV Core Loss Study.
• Frank Cirolia, Chair of the Marketing Committee, reviewed the recent activities of the committee including plans for APEC 2014. For the second year, the committee is proposing to sponsor a “PSMA Passport Game” to increase visibility and traffic to PSMA member exhibit booths during APEC. • Kevin Parmenter, Nanotechnology Committee Co-Chair, reviewed the committee membership and reported that Nano 300 course is on track to be released in Oct. For APEC 2014 the committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session. The committee holds monthly committee teleconferences and posts the minutes on the Nanotechnology Technology Forum on the PSMA web site.
• The Packaging Committee reported that they are proceeding with Phase 1 of the Special Project on 3D Power Packaging and are organizing a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2014 on 3D Power Packaging. The report also included an update on the planning for the PwrSoC14 Workshop scheduled to be held in the Boston MA area October 6, 7, and 8, 2014. • The Transportation Power Electronics Committee is a new technical committee that has met each month starting in May of 2013 and averaged 8 people per meeting. The committee is focused on the key issues in Vehicle Power Electronics and is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session for APEC 2014. • Aung Thet Tu, Technology Roadmap Committee Co-Chair, reported that the 2015 Power Technology Roadmap effort will kick-off at a meeting planned in March 2014 during the APEC2014 in Fort Worth. At that time, the co-chairs will form a team of volunteers to develop a theme for the report and the schedule of events. In addition, the committee plans to recover all older Power Technology Roadmap reports (from 1994, 1997, and 2000, and others as needed) into an electronic version that will be available for download for PSMA members. Following the committee reports Carl Blake led an interactive “brain storming” session to list the possible activities and focus for PSMA over the next year (and beyond) that will bring benefit to the membership.
PSMA members can view the minutes of the Planning Meeting on the “Members Only” section of the PSMA web site. Although a lot was accomplished during the busy weekend, it was not all work. Participants at the Planning Meeting joined members of the APEC Program Committee at the famous Billy Bob’s for dinner that evening.
The APEC Program Committee met on Sunday and were joined by several PSMA members. Based on the results of their work we can all look forward to a very interesting and successful APEC 2014. |
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our members of the PSMA Board of Directors are elected at the Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. Each Director serves a three year term and is eligible to be reelected for one additional term. Ernie’s involvement with power electronics began accidentally in 1980 with an assignment at his first post-graduation employer, Sundstrand Aviation. He has been involved in power electronics for commercial aerospace and military applications ever since, remaining in a design role through most of the 80’s before transitioning into engineering management. Crane Aerospace & Electronics Power Solutions products are used to provide power to or within electronic systems on a variety of commercial aerospace, military and space platforms. Their products are used in applications from post-generator to point-of-use, spanning a range from > 100 KW to < 10 W and are marketed to the high reliability industrial, commercial aerospace, defense, and space markets via the brands: ELDEC™, Interpoint™, and Keltec™. They provide both Standard Power Products and Custom Power Products through facilities located in Redmond and Lynnwood, Washington; Ft. Walton Beach, Florida; and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Ernie has been involved in PSMA for several years; he has come to greatly appreciate the relationships and industry knowledge that this involvement has provided. He is currently Vice President of the association, co-chair of the Packaging Committee and active on the Nanotechnology and Technology Roadmap committees, including co-chairing Industry Sessions on Packaging and Nanotechnology at APEC 2011, 2012, and 2013 that were organized by these committees. He has personally enjoyed this involvement and the people that it has given him the opportunity to meet, and believes he can bring value to PSMA from his experience and knowledge of the harsh environment, high reliability applications of power electronics that has defined his career. Ernie wants to help PSMA continue to thrive and adapt to the changing environment so as to be increasingly relevant to the power electronics industry. Provided by Ernie Parker, Director of Technology, Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Power Solutions |
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 About Our Members |
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 ogniPower, LLC is a Research and Development company spun off from Lawson Labs, Inc. in 2009. Its purpose is to explore the opportunity opened by Predictive Energy Balancing (PEB) controls for switched mode power converters. PEB controls are based on a simple transformation of conventional control methods. By calculating energy, instead of using voltage, current or time as a proxy, PEB allows the gain of the control loop to be constant. That eliminates the need for delicate compensation or computation-intensive stabilization techniques. Because PEB controls closely follow the underlying physics, no tuning is required to accommodate different input and output voltages, or varying loads. Unprecedented stability and flexibility results.
The generalized nature of these controls suits them for granular power applications, where the power converter is closely wedded to the circuit being powered. The absence of compensation components saves I/O pins and extends the operating range. Because the behavior matches the theory, digital control is painless. PEB's intrinsic stability means that no intermediate digital control steps are needed to transition between various operating conditions. The discontinuities found between different operating modes in conventional digital power systems are entirely absent with PEB. Because a PEB control loop can run faster than conventional loops, it is well suited for newer, faster switches like GaN and SiC and GaS. Particularly with these faster switches, extra care must be taken with switch drivers and switch geometry to control stay inductance. CogniPower has worked out proprietary techniques for achieving clean switching at high frequencies and edge rates. The agility and flexibility of PEB make several new topologies practical. These may seem like science fiction to those accustomed to delicately balanced, marginally stable power converters, but they are firmly grounded in reality. One new topology power converter is developed to the point that it is scheduled to go into production soon. That one is called the Compound Converter. It is a Power Factor Correcting AC/DC converter with a well-regulated output. The key difference is that most of the power moves through only a single stage of power conversion. An entire transformer can be eliminated, shrinking size and cost while improving the Power Factor and the efficiency. A Compound Converter can improve any "brick" power converter, including those used for laptops and flat panel displays. Other new topologies target sine-wave output motor controllers, multi-port power converters, bidirectional converters and switched-mode power amplifiers capable of envelope tracking, to name a few. A related line of investigation led to an ultra-low standby power wall-mount adapter. A simple, patent-pending design provides unheard of efficiency at low loads (95% efficiency at 25% load), improved regulation with a smaller filter capacitor, smaller size, and lower cost. CogniPower holds nine issued patents and has more than that many again in process. Our technology is finding its way into a variety of markets. We continue to expand and refine the core technology and to build demonstration systems showing the expanded capabilities of PEB controls. The next step will be to find the right partners to apply this new technology to more and broader markets.
Provided by Thomas Lawson,
 DEMANDING APPLICATIONS DEMAND TDI POWER
TDI Powers’ products can be found in applications such as powering aircraft entertainment screens, aircraft laptop power plugs, semiconductor manufacturing equipment, industrial process control equipment, electric vehicles, mobile medical carts, communications equipment, and military solutions. TDI’s power solutions include:
For more information about TDI Power, go to www.tdipower.com. Provided by Jan Kapushinsky,
Editor's Note: We would like to feature your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for information about how to submit an article for consideration. |
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Welcome to PSMA | ||||||||||
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Power Networks Demonstration Centre - University of Strathclyde
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PSMA Visits Los Alamos |
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PSMA attendees and some representatives from LANL continued their discussion Wednesday evening over dinner at the Red Sage Restaurant in the Hilton Hotel, Santa Fe.
The meetings concluded on Thursday with an in-depth discussion on how PSMA member companies could partner with LANL and reviewed possible partnering mechanisms. The Association Office will interface with LANL to invite their participation in APEC and contributing to the PSMA technical committees. |
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PSMA Announces Nanotechnology |
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 SMA announces the availability of an e-learning colloquium that covers the latest advances in the science, research and applications of nanotechnology. The target audiences for the colloquium are engineering, science and business college students with no geographic restrictions.
The colloquium is designed to encourage the education and application of nanotechnology to the power sources industry and to stimulate students to write and submit a nanotechnology power sources concept paper. Each year PSMA will award $1,500 First Prize for the best paper and $500 for the second. The PSMA Nanotechnology Committee previously introduced Nano 100 tutorial and Nano 200 tutorial e-learning courses that are only available in Members Only on the PSMA web site. The e-learning colloquium, entitled PSMA Nano 300 is offered exclusively and without charge through the PSMA website to students attending college. PSMA Nano 300 includes a review of the basic notions together with a succinct presentation of the chemistry, material sciences and quantum physics needed to better understand the technology. PSMA Nano 300 also explores the ongoing research together with a cross section of companies actively involved in nanotechnology applications. In addition, the colloquium highlights safety, ethical and societal issues and concerns associated with the nanoscale. A syllabus is available which details the content of Nano 300 together with instructions for students to submit the concept paper. There is also a discussion board available for students to comment and submit questions. PSMA Nano 300 can be accessed from the Courses Tab of the PSMA Nanotechnology Forum or from the Quick Links on the PSMA Homepage, www.psma.com. The deadline for the initial round of concept papers is May 1, 2014. Anthony F. Laviano, Ph.D., founder of NANOWorld® and Executive Vice President of Northrop Rice Advanced Institute of Technology (NRAIT) provided the content for the colloquium while J. Michael Rice, President of Aerolearn, an e-learning provider, provided the application program. According to Chuck Mullett, PSMA Nanotechnolgy Committee Co-Chair, “With PSMA Nano 300 globally available to college students free of charge, PSMA has taken a bold step to bring about dynamic changes to present and future power sources design and manufacturing.” Joe Horzepa, PSMA Executive Director, commented “PSMA Nano 300 is our Flag Ship education program to raise the awareness of the potential of nanotechnology in many industries and is targeted to students world-wide. The colloquium is designed to augment college course material and the objective is to encourage visionary and practical applications of the technology to the power sources industry.”
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Energy Storage: A Stepchild of Energy |
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 nergy storage is normally considered as a non-exciting subject within the energy infrastructure technologies. Alternative/renewable energy, smart grid, the Internet and the communications infrastructure development are exciting, get significant attention and research dollars from the industry and the government, but not so for energy storage. It is also usually associated with the batteries─a chemical product─viewed as low-tech and environmentally unfriendly. So energy storage can be called as the "stepchild of the energy infrastructure systems", essential but not noteworthy.
But energy storage is essential for the smooth functioning of modern and evolving energy infrastructure systems, especially with the emergence of renewable energy and smart grid technologies that are being integrated into the traditional electrical grid system. Energy storage is important, especially in renewable energy generation as the sun does not always shine, nor does the wind always blow, requiring backup/storage as an essential part of the system. Similarly in the smart grid, with the Internet and other communications infrastructure overlaying on the grid, a backup similar to the telecommunications infrastructure is necessary. While storage is essential, what type and what form it should take is a matter of debate, as environmental issues pervade social consciousness and "eco-friendly" energy storage systems become important. Batteries occupy predominance in the energy storage and backup systems, and they hold a significant market share. There are many battery chemistries used in energy storage systems such as Lead-acid (widely used in telecom), Sodium-sulfur (used by electric utilities), NiCad, Lithium-based, Zinc-based and a few others. But batteries are not the only energy storage technologies. There are many traditional technologies used, and new/exotic technologies are in the research phase and some coming to market. During the Smart Grid Workshop organized by the PSMA (Power Sources Manufacturers Association) and EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) in March 2013, Dr. Satish Rajagopalan of EPRI gave a presentation on Energy Storage for the Electric Enterprise: Opportunities and Challenges. He presented a slideshow of various existing and emerging technologies at various stages of their development. Some were mature technologies, some were in the development stage and moving into mature stage, some were in the development and the demonstration stage, while some were truly revolutionary and exotic technologies in the research and development (R&D) phase. The slideshow presented the following technologies and their various stages of development:
Some of these technologies are in early stages of development and their clear-cut progress cannot be determined from a market acceptance standpoint. But the important point of the presentation was that there are various old and new energy storage technologies that have been deployed and may come into the market place if research and funding is adequately increased. Energy storage technologies receive the least amount of research dollars in the entire spectrum of energy infrastructure and hence the true research progress in this field is slow and may create a weak link in energy infrastructure. PSMA's Energy Efficiency Committee has decided to address the issue of lack of attention in energy storage. (Disclaimer: I am a member of the PSMA committee). The committee is organizing a Special Industry Session: “Energy Storage and Power Management” that will be held during the upcoming 2014 Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) in Fort Worth, Texas. The session will have presenters who will address various issues related to energy storage, from the core technologies, their various applications, and emphasis the role of energy storage in power management. It is important to focus on energy storage within the context of power management since APEC is a power electronics conference. This linkage between energy storage and power electronics will hopefully provide a higher profile for energy storage technologies and may garner more attention which may encourage more research dollars from the industry and the government.
The views expressed in this article are solely of Mohan Mankikar. They do not represent the views of PSMA. Mohan Mankikar has been a part of the power supply industry for over twenty five years. An active member of the PSMA since its founding, he had been a board member of the PSMA and currently serves on the Advisory Council.
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A Cry For Help: All Systems Are |
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When and Why a  hy is it that petrochemical disasters are etched more in our minds than when an installation is operating without any issues? How many times has a radio station been taken off the air or a factory shut down by a lightning strike? In a morbid sort of way, how is it that we find it so fascinating when Category 5 hurricanes, ice storms or 200 MPH tornadoes shut down a city’s infrastructure or telecommunication system? Simply put, a community, an installation or facility without issues - is not news.
For those that are in the know, there are not enough fingers and toes to count the times when critical equipment malfunctions. A calculator is required to add up the times when it is not business as usual or when power generators or other power providing systems fail. But, putting aside meteorological events for a moment, too often a variety of other issues will cause equipment malfunctions. There are the ongoing situations when aging equipment disrupts operations or products when they are subjected to harsh environments. Often, surge protection systems are not properly designed for factories. Worst of all, there are cases where an improperly trained individual throws the wrong switch or a floor technician mistakenly plugs in a power supply the wrong way. In the best of all worlds, a “shutdown” will stop equipment for only a few minutes or, perhaps, an hour or so. But, suppose there was “a catastrophic event” or even an apparent innocuous incident translating into shutting down operations for days or even weeks? And, suppose the effect of these “calamitous conditions” could have been minimized or prevented entirely?
When customers and power supply vendors kick-off exploratory product design meetings, there is the typical discussion about volts, amps, watts and basic options – “Power Good,” “Power Fail” and “Over Voltage Protection.” Interestingly, during the initial Q&A conversation between the OEM and the power supply vendor, “Quality” is rarely discussed since it is assumed that the workmanship standards are exemplary and the finished product meets all of the design and testing constraints. Yes, there may be a question or two about DMTBF (Demonstrated Mean Time Before Failure). Numbers such as 250,000, 500,000 or even 1 million hours might be bandied about. While discussing a future program and the search for the “best” power supply, in addition to DMTBF, often other aspects critical to a successful program need to be addressed. Examples would be manufacturing processes, quality systems, MRP controls and how line personnel interface with each other and upper management. Are employees empowered to make low-level decisions? Are they encouraged to communicate with all management levels? What type of relationship does the power supply company have with its supply chain partners? Will the power supply company’s vendors “jump through hoops” to support an unplanned requirement? Does the Human Resources Department maintain up-to-date records documenting the skill level of each employee? Is there an on-going safety program in place? Equally important for the power supply company is to have a clear understanding of the specific application and how the product will actually be used. Is the physical location of a plant or platform and/or if the power supply will be airborne, in a marine environment or in areas where there will be little or no technical support. Is the customer’s applications calling for product to be situated in (very) hard to get to places? There is even a “hands off” application where the product is located where once everything is installed, “the door is closed and the key is (so to speak) thrown away.” Particularly important, for the power supply company is to know what peripheral equipment will be used and where the power supply will actually be physically installed in a cabinet or system. If the power supply is improperly interfacing with other electronic equipment, mounted too close to cabling, if system cooling is inadequate, the performance and life of the product may be compromised. Yet, too often a procurement specialist is not aware that the power supply will be adjacent to or interconnected with other electronic devices, which could change the efficiency, interrupt or even harm the unit. For instance, components may fail if the power supply is exposed to input voltage fluctuations beyond the product specification. The good news is that with precise information from the customer concerning the application, a power supply can be easily designed or modified to handle voltage issues or most other matters beyond the normal specifications. But, suppose a system has gone down and an on-site field tech is sent to resolve the problem? Typically, the first step is to remove the perceived failed power supply and replace it with a new unit. What happens to the removed power supply if the system continues to malfunction? Normally, the power supply is returned to the manufacturer or to a third-party repair house with the statement, “Broken,” “It doesn’t work!” or “Fix as required!” It is rather disconcerting for PMI to see that >20% of the product returned “for repair” is categorized as NPF (No Problem Found!). Putting aside NPF issues, suppose an older technology product (or even a new power supply for that matter) is returned due to some sort of undefined failure mode. After a quick confirmation that the power supply doesn’t work, it is fascinating for the power supply company to discover that often the root cause of the failure is corrosion, contaminated dust or some other foreign matter preventing the unit from working! The obvious question: Was the power supply company informed that the product would be subjected to a harsh application? How was the basic specification or application defined? Recently, power supplies in the field for < six months were returned with a complaint that the units had “failed” or that they were “overheating.” A quick observation revealed that the units were filled with a thick oily substance. The root cause was actually rather amusing. The field application called for the power supplies to activate a camera device used to select fruit size when the items move along on an outdoor conveyor belt. It turned out that the conveyor equipment was slowing down. All of the conveyor’s moving parts were getting hung up from all of the dirt, twigs and other debris when a truck would drive up to the conveyor system and dump the fruit into a hopper which would then, in turn, would transfer the fruit onto the belt. The maintenance staff at the fruit sorting facility determined that the solution to resolve the slowing conveyor was to spray heavy lubricants into all of the equipment’s moving parts. However, the equipment was not turned off resulting in the power supply fan motor sucking in the oily substance, which, in turn caused the fan to stop running and the power supplies to malfunction. This is a typical example where the end user should have trained its staff to turn off the conveyor unit before cleaning and lubricating the equipment. In addition, we could have conformal coated the power supplies to minimize other issues. With regard to conformal coating, this process often reduces the ramifications of a harsh environment on the power supply. On the surface, this seems like a reasonable approach to prolonging the power supply life. Yet, OEM and end user budgets tend to come into play. A procurement decision-maker may try to outguess statistics. How long will the power supply last with conformal coating or without it? Is the cost to protect the power supply worth the expense? It’s interesting that these important power supply specification (criteria) discussions quickly evolve into the bottom line. Is the cost of the power supply “reasonable” or “expensive?” Does the product’s uniqueness (as it relates to location, function and specifications) translate into increased costs? How long will the power supply last if the product is not designed to withstand a harsh environment? What are the ramifications for an installation if it is not fully operating and/or if (fortunately) a spare power supply is available and will be used while the other product is being repaired? With all of these questions in mind, most remarkable is the “communication process” (or lack of communication) that occurs between a field operator and the supplier when a power supply has malfunctioned. Typically, a customer or end user contacts the customer service department indicating that a unit has failed, equipment is shut down, there are no spares and an immediate turn around is required. Or, an import-export company sends an email requiring a quote for a replacement power supply “with a sense of urgency” – the unit needs to be shipped the next day. Obviously, the supplier wants to help. As a first step, the end user is asked a myriad of questions. Often, it is learned that the failed power supply in question is actually manufactured by another company – that the power supply vendor is no longer servicing older technology products or the company is no longer in business. However, putting aside the manufacturer, when a field service person is asked about ratings, dimensions, wattage, output voltage, etc., it sounds incredulous but there have been too many times when the response is “there was a power glitch…it’s in a silver box… the unit was dropped…the voltage rating on the label can’t be read . . . but it weighs about 10 pounds.” Through a process of elimination, it’s usually possible to determine what’s inside the “silver box” and whether or not we will be able to assist the end user. Hopefully, from the customer’s perspective, the power supply manufacturer is still in business and is supporting the repair of the older-type products. If not, there may be third-party repair houses that can try to repair the defunct product. Or, as an alternative, there might be a few power supply manufacturers that continue to build older technology power supplies. There might be a possibility that these power supply companies, supporting the legacy technologies, may have a drop fit solution or a product that would be “close enough” to be used as a replacement. In the event that servicing a power supply is deemed the best approach to resolving an inoperative system, repairing a power supply in an emergency situation (from a system perspective) may only be a short-term fix. There may be many older technology products in the field (having been manufactured and shipped out at the same time) that will soon reach their end of life. Therefore, why not be proactive and establish a preventative maintenance program? Why not obtain information and, particularly, good information that can be used as a foundation for years to come? The usual answer is that “…preventative maintenance programs are too expensive and that the thought of recycling power supplies installed in systems throughout the world would be a logistical nightmare!” Given that a preventative maintenance program is not an option, there are several key (inexpensive) steps that installations or facilities could start doing – immediately:
In most cases, when we shop for a flashlight battery, the battery manufacturer is not a consideration – it's price! Shopping for a light bulb is based on wattage – not whether or not the bulb will screw into the socket. Many of us ask the “local mechanic” to fix a problem with our car rather than going to a more expensive dealer. Why? Most of the products we buy today or the service we expect is based on a “standard.” Therefore, “price” often becomes the driving force rather than size or shape. Much like a battery or a light bulb, with all of the different applications, one would think that a power supply is a power supply is a power supply – particularly the more high-end, switching types designed to operate everywhere 24/7 and which are one of the most essential aspects of so many industries. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a common type of power supply that serves all industries? Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a standard power device or universal product, per se, crossing over to all aspects of the myriad of industries. To complicate matters, the creativity of a power supply design engineer or an OEM specification attempting to address all intervening variables will not translate into an all-purpose product. Essentially, it is almost impossible to imagine a cutting edge, broad-spectrum product that supports all applications. To try to anticipate every variable imaginable actually evolves into difficulties not considered during the initial design process, and, if it were conceivable to design a product that was totally universal, the costs would be prohibited. However, with clear-cut information from the OEM, the power supply company will determine if the power supply initially proposed is designed to (only) operate in a benign, office situation or (perhaps) if an alternative product is more suitable in order to withstand a harsh environment. With free-flowing and honest dialogue, aggravation can be significantly minimized if not entirely eliminated. And, if this occurs, all systems will be – Go!
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A Synergistic Approach to Intellectual Property Protection and |
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As competing developed countries trade high-tech goods, knowledge of technology embedded in the product is shared. This eventually improves the productivity of domestic researchers in the countries the product is sold and inevitably increases vulnerability of intellectual property (IP), something inventors would like to avoid but cannot. International diffusion of technology takes place through several other channels as well, for example, through internet technology, technical conferences, trade shows, person-to-person interactions, and unethical business practices. The net effects of these factors are increased international competition, reduced product development cycle, and shortened product life time. Welcome to the 21st century. Based upon my experience in the semiconductor business, I believe the analysis process intended for product development and IP protection purposes needs to be streamlined. As a result, companies can further increase the benefits to be derived from the work of the analysts and thus maximize return on investment. Let’s look at the thought process associated with the technical analysis of competitors’ products and associated IP as illustrated in Figure 1.
On the left-hand side I listed the required thought process from a development engineer’s perspective as he wants to learn about competing products and technologies through the work of the IP analyst. The right-hand side shows the thought process of a patent attorney as he, with the help of a technical analyst, searches for products that may violate the company’s patent. The similarities are striking. The company will realize maximum benefits from the technical analyst’s work if IP analysis of competing products, performed for the purpose of product development, is done being mindful of the need to protect corporate patent portfolio. Conversely, one should be aware that knowledge gained from technical analysis aimed at protecting the company’s patents can be quite useful to the development engineer. Proper analyst engagement and internal coordination and sharing are important and can be quite powerful. Digging a bit deeper, let’s look into the toolbox of a Career IP analyst (Table 1). The left-hand column lists some of the main tools technical IP analysts use. The middle and right-hand columns list the main purposes of using these tools. The dual utility of the analyst’s toolset and knowledge base is rather obvious and points to a synergistic relationship between activities aimed at intellectual property analysis/protection and product development/strategic management of technology/innovation. Having spent over thirty years in the semiconductor industry as an analog/mixed- signal IC designer and now staring into my rear-view mirror as a technical adviser to an IP analyst firm, I am amazed to note the imbalance between these two branches of activities in many high-tech companies. To put it gently, technical IP analysis for the purpose of product development support was often sporadic or nonexistent, with minimum sharing between the engineer and the IP analyst.
Contrast this with what I see today at some of the largest and most competitive companies serving the high tech electronics industry: a continuous effort aiming to know their competitors’ products and a systematic way to share the results between the IP protection and product design communities. In these companies, the toolbox of Table 1 is effectively used for both purposes, and the information gained from technical analysis is broadly disseminated. I believe this is a valued approach for highly competitive companies having relatively large patent portfolios, and it is an effective way to increase ROI on investments made in technical IP analysis. Nothing is invented here. I am merely pointing out something that is easy to lose sight of while being immersed in the micro-cosmos of the daily pursuit of activities. Technical IP analysis, competitor product (hardware) analysis, market trends analysis, and product development are activities complementary to one another. These activities, if executed thoughtfully, consistently, and systematically, can not only protect IP, increase intellectual asset value, but can also accelerate product development, guide and fuel innovation, and help in setting the direction of research and development.
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Happy 30th Anniversary |
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PSMA recognizes the contribution of power supplies and power electronics toward this anniversary of cellular handsets.
The power electronics industry is proud to enable all these exciting changes with products such as:
In addition, the power electronics industry looks forward to each challenge as cellular continues to evolve.
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INTELEC®2013: A |
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There were 756 attendees from 56 different countries to this year’s conference and exhibition and 12 guest attendees who enjoyed the partner program. There were 80 exhibitors, from companies located all over the world, who provided interesting new displays and devices at the technical exhibition. There were 31 attendees to the 2 tutorials sessions presented. The INTELEC®2013 conference program was opened by the Vice-Chair Prof. Dr.–Ing. Norbert Graß, Nuremberg Institute of Technology Georg-Simon-Ohm, and featured General-Chair Dr. Bruno Jacobfeuerborn, Director of Technology Telekom Deutschland GmbH, with a keynote speech titled “Correlations between Telecommunications and Energy”. “Future of Business Solutions: Cloud Computing” was the keynote topic of Dietmar Meding, Vice President of SAP. 
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Peter Beck, Technical University (TU), Clausthal-Zellerfeld, and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Harald Schwarz, BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg, provided a comprehensive overview of the “Energiewende” in Germany and discussed the problems of disproportional energy production (Wind, Photovoltaic) and the need for energy storage to provide solid electrical powering to the customer. Prof. Dr. Rik de Doncker, RWTH Aachen, favored the DC-Grid as the future Energy Network to customers´ homes. There were 144 papers presented in several sessions on important topics like Power Supply, New Technologies, DC Grid, Energy Storage-Batteries (Lead-Acid, Lithium) and Fuel Cells, current worldwide activities in the standardization and safety specifications for critical infrastructure for “smart” solutions like Smart Grid and Smart Metering, Green Energy, Techno-Economics, Maintenance of Equipment and Service Concepts, Thermal Management, Disaster Recovery, and Power Quality. And 28 posters showed current research activities and projects in universities and laboratories worldwide. Two workshops about “Energy Storage Systems and HVDC” dealt with the latest developments in the field of energy efficient powering of central offices, the equipment of the Next Generation Network (NGN), and the datacenter with the possibility for back reflections.
Every conference day had a slogan and began with a plenary session in the morning. The “GREEN DAY” was opened by a plenary themed “SMARTer 2020 – ICT Driving a Sustainable Future” by Luis Neves, Vice President, Group Transformational Change & CR (GCCR) of Deutsche Telekom AG, and was followed by Friedrich Wolf, Head of Business Development, EON Connecting Energies GmbH, who presented his paper “Energy, IT and Telecommunications: Interface, overlap, convergence, merger?” The social program included a Hamburg Harbor Tour, a visit of the Hamburg Container Harbor as well as a visit to the Airbus-Company, and a banquet with excellent music from the Beatles. The 36th INTELEC, themed: “Resilient Communications Energy for our Connected World”, will take place September 28th through October 2nd 2014 in Vancouver, Canada. For more information on INTELEC please see www.intelec.org. Provided by Wilfried Schulz, |
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Solar Energy Stock Index: |
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 incoln International’s™ Renewable Energy Group is pleased to present the latest Q3 2013 Solar Energy Stock Index Report, which tracks relevant solar company metrics in this growing industry.The Solar Energy Stock Index Report, published by their Renewable Energy team each quarter, provides you with information on the following:
This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.
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Lincoln International's Solar Energy DealReader: |
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incoln International is pleased to present you with the latest DealReader from our global Renewable Energy Industry group. This will provide you with:
This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.
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EMS Stock Index: |
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incoln International™ is pleased to present you with the Q3 2013 EMS Stock Index from our global Electronics industry group. This report will provide you with:
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Lincoln International's EMS DealReader: |
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incoln International™ is pleased to present you with the latest EMS DealReader from our Global Electronics Industry Group. This will provide you with:
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Events of Interest - Mark Your Calendar |
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If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and
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Ernie Parker is Director of Technology and interim Director of Engineering for the Power Solutions organization within Crane Aerospace & Electronics.
PEB provides immediate benefits for switched mode power. The most dramatic difference is in transient response. PEB can provide true single-cycle response, even when presented with large, sudden load changes. Undershoot and overshoot can be limited to a single cycle. Operating frequencies can be increased (or decreased), without affecting stability. Other benefits follow from the improved tractability. Fewer, smaller clamps or snubbers are needed. Lower voltage parts can be used in the absence of voltage spikes. Because efficiency improves, heat sinks and fans are smaller, and reliability goes up as the operating temperature goes down. 
n 1983 the FTC approved the first cellular handset for public use, and Motorola announced the first commercially available cellphone. Cellular has changed a lot since then:
solar_energy_stockindex_q32013.pdf