Editor's Note: This three-part article is abstracted from Chapter 7 of the book Embedded Hardware Know It All with the kind permission of the publisher. See also Part 1. The book features a “360 ...

When designing a system, one of the most important design decisions is choosing what voltage domain(s) to use. Some voltage domains, such as 5 V, are good for noisy and harsh operating environments ...

While microcontroller specs may be the first thing engineers look at when deciding on a device for their system, the ecosystem that surrounds the microcontroller is certainly very important, and ...

There are certain design guidelines for PCBs that don’t make a lot of sense, and practices that seem excessive and unnecessary. Often these are motivated by the black magic that is RF transmission.

PCB design tools have traditionally revolved around software packages users would download and install on their own PCs or workstations. A startup company called Flux is trying to change that ...

In recent years, integrated platforms equipped with microcontrollers (with Arduino probably being the best-known brand) have been gaining popularity.

The Ball Grid Array, or BGA package is no longer the exclusive preserve of large, complex chips on computer motherboards: today even simple microcontrollers are available with those little solder ...

While DSPs are the primary controllers in uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) with power-factor correction (PFC), ac generation and battery management, microcontrollers serve secondary functions for ...