Bob White To Present "Introduction to Microcontrollers" Seminar At Darnell’s Sixth Annual Digital Power Forum
Microcontrollers and other programmable digital devices are becoming common in power supply design. Although not often used for the real time PWM loop, they are very useful for housekeeping, protection, data logging and communication. In server power supplies, using a microcontroller for functions like startup sequencing, over temperature protection, and fan speed control can save 100 discrete parts. Aside from the material cost, this is a significant savings in manufacturing cost and a significant reduction in the calculated failure rate. In response to the growing need for knowledge about using microcontrollers in power converters, a post-conference seminar titled, "Introduction to Microcontrollers" has been added to Darnell’s sixth-annual Digital Power Forum (DPF ’09).
DPF ’09 will be hosted September 21 – 23 in Santa Ana, California. The three-hour "Introduction to Microcontrollers" seminar will be held the afternoon of Wednesday, September 23. For many power supply engineers the world of microcontrollers is a total unknown. Just finding the starting point can be difficult. Trying to talk with an embedded controller engineer can often seem like speaking another language. The jargon and terminology of microcontroller development is overwhelming to the uninitiated. This seminar provides an introduction – a roadmap and translation guide to the world of microcontrollers and programmable devices. The seminar will provide attendees basic knowledge of the tools and processes needed for developing microcontroller based circuits and systems.
"I’m excited to announce that Bob White will be the seminar presenter," stated Jeff Shepard, President of Darnell Group. "Bob has over 25 years of broad experience in designing power supplies, dc-dc converters and power systems for electronic equipment. He is widely recognized as an expert in power systems architecture and digital power management. Bob is the principal author of the PMBus™ specifications and continues to chair the PMBus Specification Working Group."
Darnell’s Digital Power Forum has expanded and includes extensive content on advanced components for power conversion. With more speakers, DPF ’09 provides the broadest coverage of advanced power conversion for embedded system applications. This focused three-day international conference will serve an audience of decision makers who are interested in learning about and contributing to the latest practical advancements related to the use of digital power control techniques in electronic systems and in power converters, and digital energy management and power management in electronic systems and facilities.
For many designers, there remains a false perception that digital power is still an emerging technology. The fact is that digital power controllers have reached price parity in a growing number of applications, and digital power management techniques have reached a significant level of maturity and sophistication. Challenges to the dominance of analog control techniques are real and growing. The sixth-annual Digital Power Forum will help to "close the digital power divide" and bring focus and clarity to the current opportunities for the use of digital power control techniques and digital power and energy management.
Details on "Introduction to Microcontrollers" at DPF ’09 are available here .
