NOVEMBER 2022

Featuring Partner Content from Analog Devices

Battery-Powered
Healthcare

Cover Story: Most Critical

Parameters For a Wearable Health
Device: When Every μA Counts!
 Contents
COVER STORY ADXL367: Nanopower, 3-Axis,
±2 g/±4 g/±8 g Digital Output MEMS
Most Critical Parameters for a Wearable
Health Device: When Every μA Counts! 4 Accelerometer 25
ADuM4166 Family: 5.7 kV rms Digital
TECHNICAL PAPER SPOTLIGHT
Isolator for Isolated USB 2.0
Jack of All Trades in Impedance High Speed  26
Measurement  11
Precision Low Power Signal Chain
Power Supply Design Considerations for Platform 26
Primary Cell Powered Remote Patient
Monitors 11 DESIGN RESOURCES

Video: Wearable Device to Collect

Noise Reduction Network for Adjustable
Human Vital Signs, Fueling Digital
Low Dropout Regulators 11
Health 33
TECHNICAL ARTICLES
Video: ADN4624 5.7 kV rms
Higher Reliability, Safety, and 30% Quad-Channel 2.5 Gigabit Isolator 33
Longer Lifetime with Advanced Battery
Management in Healthcare Energy
Webcast: Fastest Ever—Innovate with LT6370
Storage Systems 13
2.5 Gigabit Digital Isolators

Application Note: Implementing the

34
Low Drift In-Amp
Provides Industry-
Complete, Efficient 100 mA Wireless
AD5940 and AD8233 in a Full Bioelectric
Charging Solution with Optimum Power
System 34
Leading Precision
Transfer and Safety Features 20
Design Tool: LTspice® 34
Close the Loop Between Wireless
Charger Receiver and Transmitter
Without Digital Controllers 27 and Robustness
FEATURED PRODUCTS
X Low gain and offset drift ease calibration
MAX30207: ±0.1°C Accurate, 1-Wire requirements over temperature.
®

Digital Temperature Sensor 24

X High precision reduces total error budget.
ADPD4000: Multimodal Sensor
Front End 24 X Integrated input EMI filter preserves accuracy
in the presence of harsh RF interference.
AD5940: High Precision, Impedance,
and Electrochemical Front End 25
Max31888: ±0.25°C Accurate 1-Wire
Temperature Sensor 25 Learn More at analog.com/LT6370

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 COVER STORY Cover Story

When Every μA Counts! where comfort is key—there-

fore, reflective measurement
is more commonly used. In a
by Jan-Hein Broeders, Analog Devices
reflective optical system, light
is sent into the surface of the
Measuring multiple parameters, accurate read- function for that reason is a key priority. There tissue, where a part is absorbed
ings, and having a long battery lifetime—these are many good reasons for checking our heart by the red blood cells and the
are the most critical parameters for a wearable rate that go beyond the number of beats per remaining light is reflected
health device. minute. Besides that, we can retrieve a signifi- back up to the tissue surface
cant amount of additional information from the and measured by a photo sen-
Since the first pedometer came on the market behavior of the heart in terms of the frequency sor. In a reflective system, the
Figure 1. ADPD174, optical 6.5 mm × 2.8 mm system in a single package.
10 years ago, a lot has been changed. Initially, the as function of activity. When more activity is receive signals are up to
measurement was focused on just step counting. asked from the body, the heart rate should go up 60 dB weaker, so we need to
Studies have been done for decennia with the to bring more nutritious and oxygenated blood technology mainly has been used in systems for pay more attention to our transmit and receive
outcome that 10,000 steps a day would give a to the cells. A continuous high heart rate is not measuring oxygen saturation in the blood (SPO2). signal chain on both electrical and the optical
good balance on calorie intake vs. the amount good, and neither is a fast changing heart rate, For SPO2 measurement you are sending two aspects.
of calories burned. In the meantime, additional which could be an indicator of a cardiac disease wavelengths of light through a particular part of
functions and features have been added to the such as atrial fibrillation. the body (usually the finger or earlobe) and you
wearable device such as measuring heart rate, measure the percentage of oxygenated hemo- ELECTRONIC AND MECHANICAL
heart rate variability, body temperature, and skin Besides monitoring heart frequency, there is globin vs. the total amount of hemoglobin. Since CHALLENGES
conductance. The wearable device, which initially another parameter called heart rate variability this technology also allows you to measure heart During the time of a heart beat, the flow and
was meant for sports and wellness purposes, (HRV). When people are relaxed, their heart won’t rate, it is commonly used in wearable systems volume of blood is changing, resulting in the
is now moving slowly toward a more medical beat with a fixed number of beats per minute, such as small wrist-worn devices, and unlike scattering of the amount of reflected light
market. With this transition, we have to rely more but you should experience a slight variation with biopotential measurement, it is possible to received. The wavelength of the light that is used
on the accuracy of the measurements and around the heart frequency, something in the pick up the heart rate using a single measure- for measuring the PPG signals can vary depending
battery lifetime. The longer the device runs from range of ±3 beats per minute. This variation is ment point. The ADPD174 from Analog Devices is on a number of factors—the first being the type
a single battery charge, the easier it will be to get an indicator for being relaxed. At the moment an optical subsystem that has been designed to of measurement. In this article, we limit our-
it adopted by the user. people get stressed or get a startled response, support these applications (see Figure 1). selves to the measurement of just heart rate and
the adrenaline level in the body goes up and its variation. For this measurement, the required
In this article, a new generation of products for the heart starts pumping with a very monotonic wavelength depends not only on the location
wearable health devices is described, including frequency. For that reason the parameter HRV is REFLECTIVE VS. TRANSMISSION on the body that we are measuring, but also on
tips and tricks on how they can make your important to monitor. As most of us are familiar with SPO2 measure- the relative perfusion level, temperature of the
system more reliable and power efficient. ment, this is usually performed with a clip on the tissue, and color tone of the tissue. In general
The classical way for retrieving cardiac signals is finger of earlobe. Light is sent through a part of for wrist-worn devices, where arteries are not
by biopotential measurement with an electro- the body and at the opposite site the received located on top of the wrist, you need to pick up
PPG FOR HEART RATE cardiogram (ECG); however, this is not easy to signals are being measured by a photodiode. pulsatile components from veins and capillaries
MEASUREMENT integrate in a wearable device. With this transmission technique, we are meas- just under the skin surface. Green light in these
When it comes to our health, one of the most uring the amount of received or nonabsorbed applications give us the best receive. At places
important organs in our body is the heart. It A trend for measuring heart rate, other than bio- light. This principle is best-in-class, in terms where you have enough blood flow, like the upper
can be seen as the engine of our human sys- potential, is by making use of an optical principle. of signal performance vs. the amount of power arm, temple, or ear canal, red or infrared will be
tem. Without a well-performing heart, we can This technology has existed for quite some time spent. Integration of transmissive measurement, more effective, as it penetrates deeper into the
face serious health issues. Monitoring the heart and is called photoplethysmogram (PPG). PPG however, isn’t an easy task in a wearable system tissue—especially for wearable application where

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 Cover Story Cover Story

battery power and size is always an issue, red or optical measurement. It is called the ADPD174,
IR LEDs bring an additional advantage, as these and contains everything needed to run an optical
require a lower forward voltage. For applications measurement. In Figure 3, you’ll find the block
where coin cell batteries are used, these LEDs diagram of the ADPD174 subsystem. The size of
can be driven directly from the battery voltage. the module is 6.5 mm × 2.8 mm, which makes it
extremely attractive for wearable systems.
Green LEDs, unfortunately, need a higher
forward voltage that requires an additional boost The module is built around a big photodiode,
converter, so it will have a negative impact on two green LEDs, and an IR LED. The on-board
the overall current consumption of your system. mixed-signal ASIC includes an analog signal
Figure 2 shows the required forward voltage for processing block, a SAR-type ADC, a digital signal
different LED colors as function of the current. processing block, an I2C communication
If green LEDs are still required, the ADP2503 interface, and three free programmable LED
buck/boost converter could be of help to support current sources.
a higher LED forward voltage up to max 5.5 V,
operated from an input voltage that can go as The system drives the LEDs and measures the
low as 2.3 V. corresponding optical return signal with its
1.2 mm2 photodiode. The biggest challenge for
When trade offs such as sensor position and LED measuring PPG with a wearable device is to over-
color are being made, the next step is to select come interferers like ambient light and artifacts
the most appropriate optical solution. There generated by motion. Ambient light can influence Figure 3. Block diagram of the ADPD174 optical subsystem.

are many choices in terms of analog front ends, the measurement results incredibly. Sunlight is
either discretely built or fully integrated, but also not too difficult to reject but in particular light
there is a wide offering of photo sensors and from fluorescent and energy saving lamps, which ulation followed by photo signal capturing and is handled by the analog front end, so there is
LEDs that can be selected. To minimize design include ac components, are difficult to cancel. data processing. no overhead required from the microprocessor
efforts and to shorten time to market, ADI built The ADPD174 optical module has a two-stage in the system. With the ADPD174 you will be able
a fully integrated optical subsystem for reflective ambient light rejection function. After the photo Each current source is able to drive the to run a reliable heart rate monitor in normal
sensor and input amplifier stage, a band-pass connected LED with currents up to 250 mA. circumstances at a power level of around a mil-
filter is integrated, followed by a synchronous Innovative control over the pulsing of the LED liwatt. To find this operating point, we can tune
demodulator, to offer best-in-class rejection for keeps the average power dissipation low and the gain of the transimpedance amplifier (TIA) in
ambient light and interferers from dc up to contributes significantly to the savings of power combination with setting the maximum LED peak
100 kHz. The ADC has a resolution of 14 bits and and the battery life of the system. current. After optimizing the LED current and TIA
up to 255 pulse values, which can be summed to gain, we can increase the number of LED pulses
get a 20-bit measurement. Additional resolution The advantage of this LED driving circuit is that to get more signal. Be aware that increasing the
up to 27 bits can be achieved by accumulating it is dynamic and scalable on the fly. There are LED peak current is increasing the SNR propor-
multiple samples. many factors that can affect the signal-to-noise tionally, whereas increasing the number of pulses
ratio (SNR) of the received optical signal, such by a factor of n, results in an SNR improvement
The ADPD174 operates in two independent as skin tone or hairs between sensor and skin, of the root of n (√n) only.
timeslots—for instance, to measure two sepa- which impacts the sensitivity on the receiving
rate wavelengths and can carry out the results side. For this reason the excitation of the LEDs Finding the optimum settings for your heart
sequentially. During each timeslot, the complete can be configured very easily to build an auto- rate device also depends heavily on the user.
Figure 2. Required LED forward voltage vs. LED current. signal path is executed, starting with LED stim- adaptive system. All timing and synchronization The user’s skin tone has impact on the signal

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 Cover Story Cover Story

strength as well as device positioning, temper- TOTAL POWER FOR YOUR The mixed-signal front end includes a 12-bit SAR
ature, and blood flow. For calculating the power SYSTEM type ADC, reference buffer, and temperature
consumption, the optical front end can be seen In an optical system, in addition to light interferers, sensor. There is 128 kB or 256 kB of on-board
as two separate power contributors, IADPD and the interference of motion needs to be canceled. flash memory, 4 kB of cache memory, and 64 kB
ILED. IADPD is the current consumed by the Motion has an impact on the overall performance of SRAM on board. A lot of effort has been spent
input amplifier stage, the ADC, and the digital of a wearable system, as due to motion, the in protecting the device content from being read
state machine. These power numbers very much mechanical connection or contact to the tissue through an external interface by an unauthorized
depend on the sampling rate of the ADC. The Figure 4. Explanation of internal light pollution. can get changed, which gives errors in the optical user. This has a huge value to the device man-
LED current ILED will change with the person’s reading. Therefore, it is important to measure ufacturers for protecting their code and algo-
skin tone and the position of the sensor on the back directly to the photo sensor without pen- the motion of the device and compensate for the rithms. Finally, the ADuCM302x can be operated
body. For a darker skin tone more LED current is etrating the tissue that the light path marked interferers. ADI’s ultralow power 3-axis ADxL362 from a single operating voltage between 1.8 V
needed, as well as for the sensor position on the green (seen in Figure 4). MEMS sensor perfectly supports these needs. The and 3.6 V where internally the core voltage of
body when there is very little blood flow. The aver- sensor measures all three axes and has an inte- 1.2 V can be generated by either the on-board
age LED current is changing with the LED drive This ILP effect results in a dc offset and will grated 12-bit SAR ADC, resulting in an LSB size of LDO or its more efficient switch capacitor step-
pulse width, the number of pulses, and the ADC limit the ac component of the signal, also called 1 mg and the ability to communicate over a digital down converter.
sampling time. The average LED current is the modulation index (MI). The MI, in fact, is the only SPI interface. The power dissipation scales with
max LED current, multiplied by the pulse width signal we are interested in. ILP can be resolved the ADC sampling rate and at a data output rate of For wireless uploading of the measurement
and the number of pulses. This can be seen as by separation of the window—however, this is 100 Hz per axis, the sensor dissipates only 1.8 μA. results to a host processor, a fair amount of the
one timeslot and repeats every time a new sample very difficult and costly to implement in volume It is available in a 3 mm × 3 mm package—how- overall system power is required. Preprocessing
is taken. The pulse width can be as narrow as 1 μs. production. The ADPD174 is the solution to this ever, a new generation is in development, using a the measurement results will help to reduce the
problem. It has a specially designed housing to quarter of the ADxL362 PCB area. amount of data that needs to get transmitted.
For a good heart rate measurement on the wrist, reduce the ILP behavior without the requirement This brings additional power savings.
an LED peak current is required of around for separation of the transparent window in the
125 mA, when using two pulses with 1 μs width. housing. In Figure 5, improvement is shown on WHAT IS MISSING IS THE GLUE!
Considering a 100 Hz sample frequency, the the ADPD174 ILP reduction vs. its predecessor So far we have spoken about various sensors MAKING YOUR HEALTH DEVICES
average LED drive takes 25 μA. When we add as a function of the LED current. This is another needed to build a wearable health device for SELF LEARNING
250 μA average AFE current, the optical front end benefit over other discrete or integrated devices monitoring heart rate and heart rate variability. In the previous paragraphs, you have learned
is consuming 275 μA (@ 3 V = 825 μW). that are available on the market. What’s still missing is the heart of the system, that ADI has a strong focus on sensor and
connecting all these sensors together, running mixed-signal solutions with the main focus being
the required software algorithms and either on performance and low power. These chips and
ADDITIONAL MECHANICAL store, visualize or transmit the results.
CHALLENGES The ADuCM3027/ADuCM3029
Table 1. Power Modes ADuCM3027/29
We discussed ambient light interferers as one Cortex®-M3 processor from
of the challenges when designing an optical Analog Devices has recently been ADUCM3027/29 POWER MODES
system. There is another big challenge to over- announced and is capable of sup-
Active < 38 µA/MHz (all analog and digital working)
come in a reflective-mode optical system, which porting these needs. It is an ultralow
Flexi < 11.5 µA/MHz (analog active, core clock
is called internal light pollution. In a perfectly power, mixed-signal microcontroller,
gated, MCU down)
designed system, all light from the LEDs is that consumes < 38 μA per MHz of
Hibernate < 900 nA (RTC running, wake up interrupts
sent into the tissue and only reflected light is processing power. The processor has
active, SRAM retained)
seen and measured by the photo sensor. In real a max clock frequency of 26 MHz
Shutdown < 60 nA (analog/digital in deep sleep, only
life, however, LED light can be reflected by the and can be operated in four different
wake-up interrupts active
transparent window of the housing and sent Figure 5. ADPD174 ILP impact vs. its predecessor. power modes, see Table 1.

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Cover Story ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT

subsystem make it possible to build devices for ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jack of All Trades in Impedance Measurement
the health as well as the sports and wellness Jan-Hein Broeders is healthcare business
market, which can operate for a very long time development manager for Analog Devices’ There are many use cases in the medical industry where impedance
from a single coin cell battery. The challenge is healthcare business in Europe, Middle East, measurement is being applied. This technology can be used in a wide range
always to build the system with good enough and Africa. He works very closely with the of applications such as retrieving certain human body parameters, detecting
performance at the lowest possible dissipated healthcare industry to translate their pres- diseases, or analyzing fluids such as blood or saliva. Although these use cases
power. An autoadaptive algorithm can help to ent and future requirements into solutions have impedance measurement in common, each of them has its own set of
improve the overall performance and to find the based on Analog Devices market leading key requirements.  Analog Devices developed a new impedance measurement family called AD594x. It is
sweet spot for the power consumption of your linear and data converter technology as highly accurate and has several power modes to support either spot checks or continuous measurements.
system. Each time the device is being used, small well as products for digital signal process- In this article you will learn about the features of this chip and its primary applications.
changes in the settings can be made to reach ing and power. Jan-Hein started in the
the optimal SNR performance and related HRM semiconductor industry 20 years ago as DOWNLOAD NOW
accuracy for the amount of power spent. an analog field applications engineer at
Burr-Brown, responsible for the Benelux
More information can be found at and Scandinavia. Five years after Burr- Power Supply Design Considerations for Primary Cell
www.analog.com. Brown’s acquisition by Texas Instruments, Powered Remote Patient Monitors
he joined ADI as global FAE for Philips. He
has been in his current healthcare role Remote patient monitors (RPMs) are continuously evolving to include more
since 2008. He holds a bachelor’s degree in features that enable doctors to gain greater insights into their patients' health.
electrical engineering from the University of These features create greater demands on the single-cell batteries that power
‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. the monitors. This article provides a power supply solution for an ECG remote
patient monitoring patch that preserves battery life to take advantage of these features. The article also
presents strategies to accurately estimate battery life for an RPM as well as ways to extend the battery
life of the RPM before it is even powered on.

Collaborate DOWNLOAD NOW

with the Experts Noise Reduction Network for Adjustable Low Dropout
Regulators
Enjoy design cycle support for your latest innovation
with Analog Devices on Arrow.com
Arrow offers a full portfolio and expert advice on Noise is a parameter that is extremely important to designers of high performance
Analog Devices products and solutions for industrial, analog circuits. This is especially true for high speed clocks, analog-to-digital
medical, communications, consumer, automotive, and
other applications. converters (ADCs), digital-to-analog converters (DACs), voltage controlled
oscillators (VCOs), and phase-locked loops (PLLs). The key to reducing the
output voltage noise is keeping the AC closed-loop gain close to unity without compromising the AC
performance and DC closed-loop gain. This application note describes how to use a simple RC network
to reduce the output noise of an adjustable low dropout regulator (LDO). Experimental data for several
LDOs is presented and demonstrates the efficacy of this simple circuit technique.

DOWNLOAD NOW

NOVEMBER www.eetimes.eu 11
 TECHNICAL ARTICLES

Higher Reliability, Safety,

and 30% Longer Lifetime
with Advanced Battery
Management in Healthcare
Energy Storage Systems
by Stefano Gallinaro

ABSTRACT monitoring, and the newcomer in the market,

Battery monitoring systems are fundamental energy storage systems (ESS).
enablers of different markets. Batteries play a
key role in a range of applications, from going Energy storage systems are not directly linked
the extra mile in electric vehicles to storing to patients, nor are they operated by doctors.
renewable energy for the smart grid. The same They are the next step forward for uninterrupti-

AD5940
and similar battery technologies are used in ble power supplies (UPS). UPS have tradition-
medical devices for increased safety of operation ally been used as backup power for the most

High Precision
and for having the freedom to move instruments critical applications (for example, emergency
around in hospitals. All these applications run room devices, IT network critical infrastructure).

Analog Front End for on batteries that need accurate and efficient
semiconductors to monitor, balance, protect,
Energy storage systems for hospitals are covering
more and more functions, enabled by the new

Always-On Wearable and communicate. This article will explain how

a state-of-the-art battery monitoring system,
lithium-based batteries. They are becoming fully
integrated with the hospital power grid, bringing

Applications
including cell balancing and isolated commu- advantages like:
nication networks, can exploit the benefits of
new lithium battery chemistries. Using innovative ▶ Complete backup power for entire facilities,
integrated circuits permits higher reliability and rather than just a small, critical subset of
X Potentiostat and electrochemical impedance
a 30% longer battery lifetime, especially for large facilities, as well as protection from black-
spectroscopy functionality on a single chip. scale energy storage systems. outs, poor power/voltage quality from the
X Autonomous control with pre-programmable grid, and reduced usage of emergency diesel
sequencer and on-chip FIFO. Batteries used in medical applications need to generators. With megawatt hour (MWh) scale
meet very high standards for reliability, efficiency, ESS, hospitals can operate even during pro-
X DC to 200 kHz with high frequency resolution and safety in all applications where they are longed blackouts, and they can participate in
for a wide variety of applications. typically used: patients’ portable systems such grid stabilization.
as chest compression systems, hospital emer-
Learn more at analog.com/AD5940. gency room equipment, powered medical carts ▶ Economic benefits on the electricity bill.
and beds, portable ultrasound machines, remote With ESS, hospitals can directly control the

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 Technical Articles Technical Articles

usage profiles of electricity and reduce high This results in it being the best candidate for deep discharge in case of power break), and
power peak demands, which results in lower big energy storage systems that need to work makes sure that, in big energy storage sys-
bills from the utilities. during a power outage. The drawback is a higher tems, the balance between batteries in bad
self-discharge rate, but this is not relevant in the condition and batteries in good condition is
Hospitals generally have sizable roof estate, above-mentioned storage implementations. optimal to increase the total battery lifetime.
which is good for installing photovoltaic (PV)
systems to generate electricity. PV systems com- The differing needs of applications requires a By imaging a very old battery with a steep
bined with ESS allow for the storage and self-use variety of battery types. For example, automotive discharge curve, it is easier to calculate the
of generated electricity, while also providing eco- applications need high reliability and a good state of charge of that battery by measur-
nomic benefits and a reduced carbon footprint. charging and discharging speed, while healthcare ing the delta of the voltage drop in a small
applications necessitate high amount of time and knowing the absolute
peak current sustainability for value of the battery voltage. For a new
efficiency and a long lifetime. Figure 2. Lithium battery discharge profile. lithium-­based battery, the accuracy required
However, the commonality to make this measurement is orders of mag-
among all these solutions increase the precision of the final applications, nitude higher, since the voltage drop is much
is that the various lithium such as remote monitoring or patient in-body smaller in a given time frame.
chemistries all have a very flat electronics. In case of old chemistries or non-flat
discharge curve at a nominal discharge curves, the dc-to-dc conversion oper- For the SOH, old batteries discharge in a faster
voltage range. ated from the battery will work with lower effi- and more predictable way: their voltage discharge
ciency, which results in a shorter battery duration curve becomes even steeper and the target
While in standard batteries we (–20%), or, when linked to medical portable charging voltage cannot be reached. New lith-
see a voltage drop in the range devices, the need to charge them more often ium batteries will keep the same good behavior
of 500 mV to 1 V, in advanced because of the extra power dissipation. longer, but eventually can degrade with a more
lithium batteries, such as lith- exceptional behavior and rapidly change their
Figure 1. Energy storage battery cells. ium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) or The main drawback of a flat discharge curve is impedance and discharge curve just when they
lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), that the state of charge (SOC) and state of health are close to end of life or being damaged. Extra
Lithium-based chemistries are now state of the the discharge curve shows a plateau with a volt- (SOH) ratings of the battery are much harder care must be taken for temperature measure-
art for the batteries used in various markets, age drop in the range of 50 mV to 200 mV. to determine. SOC must be calculated with a ments, ideally at every single cell, to integrate
from automotive to industrial to healthcare. very high precision to ensure that the battery is the SOC and SOH algorithms with this informa-
Different types of lithium batteries have different The flatness of the voltage curve has tremen- properly charged and discharged. Overcharging tion to make them more accurate.
benefits to better suit the power requirements dous benefits in the power management chain can bring safety issues and generate chemistry
for a variety of applications and product designs. of ICs linked to the battery voltage rail: the degradation and short circuits that lead to fire Precise and reliable SOC and SOH calculations
As an example, LiCoO2 (lithium cobalt oxide) dc-to-dc converters can be designed to operate and gas hazards. Over-discharging can damage help extend battery lifetimes from 10 years to
has very high specific energy and this makes it at a maximum efficiency point in a small input the battery and shorten the battery lifetime by 20 years in the best case and generally result in a
suitable for portable products; LiMn2O4 (lithium voltage range. Converting from a known VIN to a more than 50%. SOH gives information about 30% lifetime improvement, which reduces the total
manganese oxide), with its very low internal very close VOUT, the power chain of the system the status of the battery to help prevent replac- cost of ownership of the energy storage system
resistance, enables fast charging and high cur- can be designed to have an ideal duty cycle of ing good batteries and to monitor the state of by greater than 30% after including maintenance
rent discharging, which means that it’s a good the buck and boost converters to achieve >99% bad batteries before an issue appears. The main costs. This, together with the higher accuracy
choice for peak shaving energy storage applica- efficiency throughout all operating conditions. microcontroller analyzes the SOC and SOH data in of the SOC information, avoids overcharging or
tions. LiFePO4 (lithium iron phosphate) is more Moreover, the battery charger can perfectly target real time, adapts the charging algorithms, informs overdischarging conditions that can quickly drain
tolerant to full charge conditions and can sustain the charging voltage and the loads are dimen- the user about the potential of the battery (for a battery; minimizes the chance of short circuits,
being kept at high voltage for a prolonged time. sioned according to a stable operating voltage to example, if the battery is ready for a high current fire, and other risky situations; helps use all the

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 Technical Articles Technical Articles

energy in a battery; and enables charging batteries tion path. The IC can be powered directly from that alone is not enough. The analog-to-digital passive balancing ensures these lower capacity
in the best, most efficient way possible. the battery stack or from an isolated supply. The converter architecture and its operation must cells are not overcharged. The IC can also be
IC includes passive balancing for each cell, with meet specifications in an electrically noisy envi- used to control active balancing, a more compli-
The LTC6813 battery management solution (BMS) individual PWM duty cycle control for each cell. ronment, which is the result of the pulse-width cated balancing technique that transfers charge
proposed in this article can be used in healthcare Other features include an onboard 5 V regulator, modulated (PWM) transients of the system’s high between cells through the charge or discharge
devices such as portable ultrasound machines nine general-purpose I/O lines, and a sleep mode current/voltage inverter. Accurate assessment of cycle.
and in large scale (megawatt/hours) energy where current consumption is reduced to 6 μA. the state of charge and health of the batteries
storage systems (for hospitals, factories, grid also requires correlated voltage, current, and Whether done using active or passive
stabilization, electric vehicle charging infrastruc- Due to the short- and long-term accuracy temperature measurements. approaches, cell balancing relies on high
ture, and residential units), as well as in indus- demands of the BMS application, it uses a buried measurement accuracy. As measurement error
trial robots and vehicles. The portability of ADI Zener conversion reference rather than a band To mitigate the system noise before it can affect increases, the operating guard band that the
technology brings terrific advantages in reliability gap reference. This provides a stable, low drift the BMS performance, the stack monitor con- system establishes must also be increased, and
and safety, as it’s designed to work in different, (20 ppm/√kHr), low temperature coefficient (3 verter uses a Σ-Δ topology that is aided by six therefore the effectiveness of the balancing
harsh environments and is compliant to various ppm/°C), low hysteresis (20 ppm) primary voltage user selectable filter options to address noisy performance will be limited. Further, as the SOC
functional safety standards, from the Automotive reference along with excellent long-term stabil- environments. The Σ-Δ approach reduces the range is restricted, the sensitivity to these errors
ASIL to Industrial SIL (for example, VDE AR 2510- ity. This accuracy and stability are critical since it effect of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and also increases. A total measurement error of less
2/-50, IEC EN 61508, and others). is the basis for all subsequent battery cell meas- other transient noise, by its very nature of using than 1.2 mV is well within system-level require-
urements and these errors have a cumulative many samples per conversion, with an averaging ments for battery monitoring systems.
One new and unique solution for having the impact on acquired data credibility, algorithm filtering function.
most efficient and reliable battery monitoring consistency, and system performance. In energy storage systems, a communication loop
system involves the combination of an 18-cell The need for cell balancing is an unavoidable is mandatory to connect all battery cells. This
monitor and balance IC with a microcontroller to Although a high accuracy reference is a neces- consequence in any system that uses large loop transmits data from the system’s battery
SPI slave isolated interface. A multicell battery sary feature to ensure superior performance, battery packs arranged as groups of cells or to a cloud-based energy management algorithm
stack monitor measures up to 18 series modules, such as the big energy storage units that tracks charging and discharging events to
connected battery cells with a total meas- used to supply hospital microgrids and subgrids. determine the best way to maximize battery
urement error of less than 2.2 mV. The cell Although most lithium cells are well matched use or to keep the highest capacity battery fully
measurement range of 0 V to 5 V makes it when first acquired, they lose capacity as they charged in case of a power outage.
suitable for most battery chemistries. All 18 age. The aging process can differ from cell to cell
cells can be measured in 290 μs, and lower due to several factors, such as gradients in pack ADI’s LTC681x and LTC680x families represent the
data acquisition rates can be selected for temperature. Exacerbating the whole process, a state of the art for battery stack monitors. The
high noise reduction. Multiple stack mon- cell that can operate beyond its SOC limits will 18-channel version is called LTC6813.
itor devices can be connected in series, prematurely age and lose additional capacity.
permitting simultaneous cell monitoring These differences in capacity, combined with The battery stack monitor device needs to
of long, high voltage battery strings. Each small differences in self-discharge and load communicate with the master unit where a
stack monitor has an isoSPI™ interface currents, lead to cell imbalance. microcontroller or processor calculates the SOC
for high speed, RF immune, long distance and SOH values and regulates the charging and
communications. Multiple devices are To remedy the cell imbalance issue, the stack discharging profiles. Various forms of intercon-
connected in a daisy chain with one host monitor IC directly supports passive balancing nection are possible, where the isolated com-
processor connection for all devices. This (with a user-settable timer). Passive balancing is munication channel is preferred for high voltage
daisy chain can be operated bidirectionally, a low cost, simple method to normalize the SOC applications, such as energy storage systems
ensuring communication integrity, even in for all cells during the battery charge cycle. By (400 V to 1500 V) and portable devices with high
the event of a fault along the communica- Figure 3. LTC6813 application schematic. removing charge from the lower capacity cells, capacity batteries (40 V to 200 V).

16 NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu 17

 Technical Articles

Figure 4.
LTC6813 isolated
connection with
an LTC6820.

The isoSPI feature built into the LTC6813 battery precision can help optimize already good designs.
stack monitor, when combined with an LTC6820 The batteries will then be efficiently used, they
isoSPI communications interface, enables safe will have a 30% longer lifetime, and they will
and robust information transfer across a high operate in a safer way.
voltage barrier. isoSPI is particularly useful in
energy storage systems that produce hundreds To support customers in designing their final
of volts via series-connected cells, which require products, ADI provides a full range of evaluation
full dielectric isolation to minimize hazards to systems and platforms for the battery monitor

Quad-Channel
personnel. devices, as well as a complete portfolio of vari-
ants to adapt to all needs.

Precision ADC Eases

In these storage systems, where more than 18
cells are used, multiple LTC6813 BMS boards will
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Signal Chain Design
need to be interfaced together. Here a robust
interconnection of multiple identical PCBs, Stefano Gallinaro joined Analog Devices’

and Implementation
each containing one LTC6813 is configured for Renewable Energy Business Unit in
operation in a daisy chain. The microprocessor 2016. He manages strategic marketing
is located on a separate PCB. To achieve 2-wire activities related to solar energy,
isolation between the microprocessor PCB and electric vehicle charging, and energy
the first LTC6813 PCB, the LTC6820 support IC is
used. When only one LTC6813-1 is needed, it can
storage, with a special focus on power
conversion. Based in Munich, his business
AD7134
be used as a single (non-daisy-chained) device if responsibilities span worldwide. Stefano X Alias-free sampling up to 1.5 MSPS eliminates
the second isoSPI port (Port B) is properly biased studied electronics engineering at the external filter and improves phase matching.
and terminated. Politecnico di Torino, Italy (BS) and
began his career as an applications
X Easy-drive resistive input reduces
The main design challenge for battery stack mon- engineer at STMicroelectronics S.r.l. — requirements on ADC driver.
itors with balancing and communication func- Dora S.p.A., in Aosta, Italy. Before joining X New synchronization features simplify digital
tions is to create a noise free PCB layout design, ADI, Stefano also worked as a product
interface designs in multidevice distributed systems.
with critical trace routes far from the noise marketing manager at Vincotech GmbH in
sources—such as switching power supplies—giv- Unterhaching, Germany.
ing clear signals to the stack monitor. With ADI
solutions, the stack monitor’s great accuracy and
Learn more at analog.com/AD7134
18 NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu 19
 TECHNICAL ARTICLES Technical Articles

Complete, Efficient 100 mA integrates a wireless power manager—converting

ac voltage from the wireless resonant tank into
the shunting circuit is engaged, as the reso-
nant frequency is detuned from the transmitter

Wireless Charging Solution

a regulated dc voltage. This dc voltage is then frequency.
fed into a full-featured linear battery charger

with Optimum Power

to provide a healthy battery charging cycle. This
high level of integration results in a very small, COMPLETE THE WIRELESS
full-featured wireless charging installation, CHARGING DESIGN WITH THE

Transfer and Safety Features requiring only the addition of a receiver resonant
tank and the battery itself.
LTC4125 TRANSMITTER
The LTC4125 shown in Figure 3 is a high perfor-
mance AutoResonant™ wireless transmitter with
by Wenwei Li
complete protection features for wireless charg-
EFFICIENT WIRELESS POWER ing applications. Optimum power search in the
The LTC4124 is a high performance 100 mA wire- MANAGER LTC4125 adjusts the transmitted power based
less Li-Ion charger receiver that provides a tiny As shown in Figure 2, when the LTC4124 receives on the receiver load requirements. The LTC4125
total solution with few external components for more energy than it needs to charge the battery, also includes multiple foreign object detection
space-constrained applications. The LTC4124 is the wireless power manager in the IC keeps the methods to prevent other objects from receiving
paired with the LTC4125—a wireless power trans- input voltage to the IC, VCC, low by shunting the undesired power from the transmitter.
mitter with optimum power search and foreign receiver resonant tank to ground. In this way, the
object detection features—to create a safe and linear charger is highly efficient as its input is When paired with the LTC4124, the LTC4125
efficient wireless charging environment. always kept just above the battery voltage, VBATT. full-bridge resonant driver can be converted to
The resonant tank also receives less power when a half-bridge driver to utilize finer resolution

HIGHLY INTEGRATED WIRELESS Figure 2. Rectification of ac input and regulation of dc rail

CHARGER RECEIVER voltage.

Wireless charging is becoming increasingly pop-

ular for small form factor portable and wearable and the end user experience is greatly simplified.
devices. This is no surprise. Devices are more To overcome typical space constraints posed by
robust without exposed connectors and ports, these devices, such as hearing aids, the LTC4124

Figure 3. A 100 mA LTC4124 charger receiver paired with an LTC4125 AutoResonant transmitter in optimum power search
Figure 1. Complete 6 mm wireless battery charger solution. operation.

20 NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu 21

 Technical Articles

to match the lower power

demand of the receiver. This
helps reduce power dissipation
throughout the charging cycle,
keeping the LTC4124 charger
and battery cool.

Figure 4 shows the temperature

of the receiver circuit at full
Figure 4. Thermal performance comparison: (a) 100 mA charging current at 4.1 V
power and at current limiting
output, (b) 10 mA charging current at 4.2 V output.
constant voltage mode. The
temperature at both conditions
search steps, enabling low power receivers to are below 40°C under room temperature.
receive just enough power to charge the battery.
As the battery is close to being fully charged, the When the charger receiver is moved away from
LTC4124 enters constant voltage mode, reducing the transmitter, the LTC4125 fails to find an active
the regulated charge current. The LTC4125 auto- load and reduces its power to standby mode as
matically decreases its level of power delivery shown in Figure 5. Figure 6 shows what happens
when a foreign metal object is placed on the
transmitter—the LTC4125 detects a high resonant

ADN4624
frequency and enters standby mode.

CONCLUSION Quad-Channel LVDS

LTC4124 integrates a wireless power manager and
a full-featured Li-Ion battery charger to simplify Isolator Provides Up to
wireless charger receiver design in space-con-
strained applications. The LTC4125 can be used 10 Gbps Total Bandwidth
Figure 5. LTC4125 operation with no receiver detected.
as a half-bridge transmitter for the LTC4124
receiver to complete a well-protected, highly in a Single Device
efficient wireless charging solution.

X Isolates high speed serial LVDS at full speed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR X Delivers full ADC performance and resolution
Wenwei Li is a power products applica- when isolating precision ADC sampling clocks.
tions engineer at Analog Devices in North
Chelmsford, MA. He received his B.E. de-
X Safety reinforced isolation at main voltages
gree from Hunan University in Changsha,
and large transients.
China, in 2014, and his M.S. degree from
the Ohio State University in Columbus,
Shape the future of healthcare.
OH, in 2016.
Learn more at analog.com/ADN4624.
Figure 6. LTC4125 detects a foreign object.

22 NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu 23

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INTRODUCTION AUTORESONANT TRANSMITTER
Wireless charging is increasingly utilized for WITH A DUTY CYCLE CONTROL
small size wearable devices, as it eliminates the INPUT
need for cables or any exposed connectors on The LTC4125 is a monolithic, full-bridge AutoRes-
the device. For applications with charge current onant wireless power transmitter designed to
less than 10 mA, closed-loop control between maximize the available power to the receiver,
the wireless charger receiver and the transmitter increase the overall efficiency, and provide thor-
is not required as the power dissipation is low. ough protection to the wireless charging system.
However, for higher charge current, it is essential
for the transmitter to actively adjust its output The LTC4125 implements an AutoResonant con-
power based on the demands of its receiver verter to drive the series-resonant tank com-
and coupling coefficient between the two sides. posed of the transmit coil (LTX) and the transmit
Otherwise, the receiver may have to dissipate capacitor (CTX). The AutoResonant driver uses
the extra power in the form of heat, impacting a zero-crossing detector to match its driving
the user experience and posing a threat to the frequency with the resonant frequency of the
health of the battery. Digital communication from tank. The SW1 and SW2 pins are the outputs of
Precision Low Power Signal Chain Platform the receiver to the transmitter is usually used to the two half-bridges inside the LTC4125. When
Adaptable low power, high precision signal chain platform supports multiple sensing close this loop, but digital control adds complex- the SWx pin senses the direction of its output
modalities ity in overall design and increases the size of the current crosses zero from negative to positive,
▶ Ultra low battery or loop power for distributed smart factory transmitters application. SWx is set to VIN for a duty cycle that is pro-

▶ Digital and diagnostic features adds intelligent capabilities portional to its corresponding PTHx pin voltage.
This article introduces a method for closing the When the SWx pin is set to VIN, current flowing
▶ Fully integrated sensor conditioning and acquisition with high channel density
loop between the receiver and the transmitter in the transmitter resonant tank is increased.
without increasing the number of components Therefore, the duty cycle of each bridge driver
(and precious overall footprint) on the receiver controls the amplitude of the tank current,
▶Visit
the Signal Chain Page board. A closed-loop, controlled wireless which is in proportion to the transmit power.
charger prototype is built using an LTC4125 Figure 1 shows the tank current and voltage
AutoResonant™ transmitter and an LTC4124 waveforms with a duty cycle less than 50%.
wireless Li-Ion charger receiver to demonstrate The absolute value of the tank current ampli-
this concept. tude is determined by the overall tank imped-

26 NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu 27

 Technical Articles Technical Articles

FB pin sees certain patterns of voltage change, the shorted to GND. The transmit resonant tank can
sweep is stopped, and the duty cycle stays at that then be connected between SW1 pin and GND.
level for a programmable time period (usually set to In this way, the LTC4125 becomes a half-bridge
around 3 s to 5 s). Then a new sweep cycle starts, transmitter to allow for a lower gain and wider
repeating the same steps. If the load condition is control range on the PTH1 pin.
changed during a sweep period, the LTC4125 will
respond at the beginning of the next sweep period.
GENERATE FEEDBACK SIGNAL
Figure 1. AutoResonant LC tank voltage and current To form a closed loop, the transmit power of FROM THE WIRELESS CHARGER
waveforms with square wave input at less than 50% duty
cycle.
the bridge driver should adjust based on control RECEIVER USING LTC4124
input. One of the features in the LTC4125 is that The LTC4124 is a highly integrated 100 mA
the PTHx pin is not only an indicator of the bridge wireless Li-Ion charger designed for space-con-
ance, including the reflected load impedance driver duty cycle, but can also be driven as an strained applications. It includes an efficient Figure 5. The rise of transmit tank voltage (VTX) during the
shunting period of the LTC4124 receiver.
from the wireless receiver. input to set the duty cycle. The internal 5-bit wireless power manager, a pin programmable,
DAC sets the voltage target of PTHx pin with full-featured linear battery charger, and an ideal
In typical operation, the LTC4125 sweeps the SWx an internal pull-up resistor. However, as shown diode PowerPath™ controller. voltage, VBAT, the wireless power manager shunts
duty cycle using an internal 5-bit DAC that sets in Figure 2, an external pull-down resistor in the receiver resonant tank to ground, until the VCC
the PTHx voltage to search for a valid load. If the series with a FET can be implemented to actively The wireless power manager in the LTC4124 falls back down to 0.85 V over VBAT. In this way,
discharge a capacitor on PTHx pin, thus reducing connects to a parallel resonant tank via an ACIN the linear charger is highly efficient as its input is
the PTHx pin average voltage. The duty cycle of pin, allowing the linear charger to receive power always kept just above its output.
the PWM signal at the gate of this pulldown FET wirelessly from an alternating magnetic field
controls the average voltage on PTHx pin. generated by a transmit coil. When the LTC4124 The shunting event of the LTC4124 also reduces
receives more energy than it needs to charge reflected load impedance on the transmit reso-
The LTC4125 is designed to deliver over 5 W to a the battery at the programmed rate, the input nant tank, causing the amplitude of transmit tank
proper receiver. When paired with the LTC4124 capacitor of the linear charger on the VCC pin is current and voltage to rise. As the shunting event
receiver, the transmit power can be reduced by charged up to absorb the extra energy. When the indicates the receiver is getting enough power
deactivating one of the half-bridge drivers. This VCC pin voltage reaches 1.05 V over the battery from the transmitter, the rise of the transmit
Figure 2. PTHx controlled by a PWM input signal. is done by leaving the SW2 pin open and PTH2 tank peak voltage can serve as a feedback signal
for the transmitter to regulate its output power.

DEMODULATE THE FEEDBACK

SIGNAL AND CLOSE THE LOOP
Now that feedback signal from the receiver side
is available on the transmitter side, this feedback
signal needs to be translated and fed into the
control input of the transmitter to close the con-
trol loop. The peak tank voltage can be obtained
from a half-wave rectifier consisting of a diode
and a capacitor CFB1, as shown in Figure 6. This
voltage is further divided by resistors RFB1 and
Figure 4. Rectification of ac input and regulation of dc rail
Figure 3. A complete wireless battery charger solution using the LTC4124 on a 6 mm application board. voltage at the LTC4124 receiver. RFB2. To sense the change of the peak current, the

28 NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu 29

 Technical Articles Technical Articles

This can be achieved by setting the internal volt- FEATURES AND PERFORMANCE
age target for the PTHx pin. The internal voltage OF THE LTC4124- AND LTC4125-
target can be set by the PTHM pin as it sets the BASED CLOSED-LOOP WIRELESS
initial 5-bit DAC voltage level before the start of CHARGER
the LTC4125 search period. A 1 V voltage refer- Figure 7 shows the complete schematic for the
ence can be connected on IMON pin to disable LTC4125-based closed-loop controlled transmit-
the search, keeping the PTHx pin target voltage ter and the 100 mA LTC4124-based receiver. As
fixed at its initial value during the operation. If shown in the schematic, very few components
the LTC4124 receiver demands more power, the are required on the receiver side, lowering the
Figure 6. Feedback signal demodulation circuit on the
transmitter side. shunting event will stop and the PTHx discharg- cost and reducing the volume of the receiver. On
ing FET will not be activated. The PTHx voltage the transmitter side, compared to the LTC4125
will be charged toward the internal voltage target typical applications, only a few additional com- Figure 9. The LTC4124- and LTC4125-based closed-loop
wireless charger response to a step up in charge current.
peak voltage signal is averaged via a low-pass until the LTC4124 receives enough power to start ponents are used to achieve the closed-loop
filter formed by a resistor (RAVG) and a capacitor the shunting event. control. Most of the features for the LTC4125 are
(CAVG). By comparing this average signal to the retained, including AutoResonant switching, mul-
original peak voltage signal, a square wave pulse The maximum transmit power is defined by tiple foreign detection methods, overtemperature
can be generated. This pulse is then fed into the measuring the PTHx voltage when the receiver protection, and resonant tank overvoltage pro-
duty cycle control input of the LTC4125 to regu- is regulating maximum charge current at the tection. Details of these features can be found in
late the output power of the transmitter. worst coupling coefficient position in the the LTC4125 data sheet.
application. The PTHM pin voltage should be
When the receiver is not getting enough energy, set to meet the maximum transmit power The LTC4125-based closed-loop wireless trans-
the LTC4125 should increase its output power. requirement. mitter can dynamically adjust its output power
to match the power demand by the receiver.
Figure 8 shows the behavior of this wireless
charger when the receiver coil is moved away
from the center of the transmitter coil and then
Figure 10. The LTC4124- and LTC4125-based closed-loop
quickly moved back to the original position. The wireless charger response to a step down in charge current.

Figure 8. The LTC4124- and LTC4125-based closed-loop

wireless charger response to a sudden change of the Figure 11. Zoomed-in waveform to show detail of the
Figure 7. 100 mA LTC4124 charger receiver paired with LTC4125 AutoResonant closed-loop controlled transmitter. coupling coefficient between the transmitter and receiver. transient shown in Figure 10.

30 NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBERb www.eetimes.eu 31

 Technical Articles BROCHURE, DESIGN RESOURCES AND VIDEOS

output power of the LTC4125 transmitter, which DAC steps in the LTC4125 optimum power search
is indicated by the peak transmit tank voltage
VTX_PEAK, responds smoothly to the change of
operation. As power loss is greatly reduced, the
LTC4124 charger and the battery remains near Insights & Resources
the coupling coefficient between the two coils to room temperature throughout the charging
keep the charge current constant. period.

During a charge current rise transient, the Video: Wearable Device to

LTC4124 shunting event stops, allowing the CONCLUSION Collect Human Vital Signs,
LTC4125 to charge up its PTH1 pin internally. As The LTC4125 can be configured as a power Fueling Digital Health 
a result, the LTC4125 increases its half-bridge adjustable transmitter with a control input. The
driver duty cycle to boost the transmit power. shunting event of the LTC4124 wireless charger Discover how Analog Devices’ watch
Once the transmit power is large enough for the receiver can be used to provide a feedback signal platform enables complex vital sign recording
LTC4124 to regulate its charge current, the shunt- to the transmitter. This feedback signal can then along with algorithms for a wide range of
ing event resumes and the duty cycle remains be demodulated using a half-wave rectifier, a biomedical solutions, benefiting wellness
at an optimum level. During a charge current voltage divider, a low-pass filter, and a compara- management and in-home care markets.
fall transient, the LTC4124 shunts much more tor. The processed signal can then be fed into the
frequently. The LTC4125 quickly discharges the power adjustable LTC4125-based transmitter to
capacitor on its PTH1 pin to lower the duty cycle close the control loop. A prototype has been built
and reduce the LTC4125 transmit power. to prove this concept. This prototype responds
quickly and smoothly to the change of the cou- WATCH NOW >
As the transmit power always matches the pling coefficient and the charge current. This
demand of the receiver, the overall efficiency is method allows end-users to place the receiver
greatly improved compared to typical configura- on top of the transmitter with a higher degree of
tions of a LTC4124- and LTC4125-based wireless misalignment, without worrying that the receiver
charger without closed-loop control. The effi- will get the power it needs. Furthermore, this
ciency curve is smoother without the internal closed-loop method also improves the overall
efficiency by always matching the transmitter
output power with the power demand of the Video: ADN4624 5.7 kV rms
receiver, keeping the entire charging period much Quad-Channel 2.5 Gigabit
safer and more reliable.. Isolator

With a total bandwidth of 10 Gbps, the

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ADN4624 family of LVDS i Coupler® digital
Wenwei Li is a power products applica- isolators provide precision timing combined
tions engineer at Analog Devices in North with robustness to create new electrical
Chelmsford, MA. He received his B.E. de- domain system architectures, all with ADI’s
gree from Hunan University in Changsha, trusted safety and data integrity.
China, in 2014, and his M.S. degree from
the Ohio State University in Columbus,
OH, in 2016.
Figure 12. Efficiency of various configurations of the
LTC4125- and LTC4124-based wireless charger at 3.5 mm air WATCH NOW >
gap.

32 NOVEMBER www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBER www.eetimes.eu 33

 Brochure, Design Resources and Videos

Webcast: Fastest Ever­—Innovate

with 2.5 Gigabit Digital Isolators

Compact multigigabit digital isolators with an

aggregate bandwidth of 10 gigabits open up new
system architectures in digital health, instru-
mentation and smart industry applications. The
ADN4624 family offer robust isolation and data
integrity in harsh environments, ultra low jitter
and high throughput for precision sampling, sim-
plified electrical con nectivity with LVDS I/O and
compact solutions meeting medical standards.
REGISTER NOW >

Application Note: Implementing

the AD5940 and AD8233 in a Full
Bioelectric System

The AD5940 is a high precision, ultra low power,

analog front end (AFE) system designed to excite
and measure the current, voltage, or impedance
response of a sensor.

The AD5940 features two high precision

measurement loops. An ultra low power, sub-1 kHz
loop and a high speed, sub-200 kHz loop allow
the AD5940 to precisely measure the impedance Copyright© All rights reserved. No part Editorial Design
READ NOW > of this publication may be reproduced AspenCore Studio
of a sensor.
or transmitted in any form or by any www.aspencore.com
Aspencore Media GmbH
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LTspice application’s enhancements and models those of the authors and not neces-
improve the simulation of analog circuits when sarily the opinions of the publisher.

compared to other SPICE solutions.

START DEVELOPING >

34 NOVEMBER www.eetimes.eu NOVEMBER www.eetimes.eu 35