Design Is Power

We are no longer used to critically examining the meaning of “design”, which maintains an unexplored dimension in terms of the Power that can be exercised through the cyclic act of creation, preservation and disruption. This assumption induce us focus on the contrast between the “visible” side of the act that involves all its conceptual and practical manifestations, and a hidden or “dark” side that deals with politics and power play, but that however has an major influence in the process and its hierarchical dynamics. This implies an order on the surface seems to be naturally stirred by the so-called “perceptions” that reflect the preferences of overall public opinions: however, looking deeper, all the production acts involves a carefully controlled disequillibrium influenced by social, ecological, economical and political interests. The power fl ow in the act of “design” takes into consideration the paradoxical contradiction between its potentiality and its preservation of power.

We live in a dynamic economic and commerical world, surrounded by objects of remarkable complexity and power. In many industries, changes in products and technologies have brought with them new kinds of firms and forms of organization. We are discovering news ways of structuring work, of bringing buyers and sellers together, and of creating and using market information. Although our fast-moving economy often seems to be outside of our influence or control, human beings create the things that create the market forces. Devices, software programs, production processes, contracts, firms, and markets are all the fruit of purposeful action: they are designed. Using the computer industry as an example, Carliss Y. Baldwin and Kim B. Clark develop a powerful theory of design and industrial evolution. They argue that the industry has experienced previously unimaginable levels of innovation and growth because it embraced the concept of modularity, building complex products from smaller subsystems that can be designed independently yet function together as a whole. Modularity freed designers to experiment with different approaches, as long as they obeyed the established design rules. Drawing upon the literatures of industrial organization, real options, and computer architecture, the authors provide insight into the forces of change that drive today's economy.

The Information and communication technology (ICT) industry is said to account for 2% of the worldwide carbon emissions – a fraction that continues to grow with the relentless push for more and more sophisticated computing equipment, c- munications infrastructure, and mobile devices. While computers evolved in the directionofhigherandhigherperformanceformostofthelatterhalfofthe20thc- tury, the late 1990’s and early 2000’ssaw a new emergingfundamentalconcern that has begun to shape our day-to-day thinking in system design – power dissipation. As we elaborate in Chapter 1, a variety of factors colluded to raise power-ef?ciency as a ?rst class design concern in the designer’s mind, with profound consequences all over the ?eld: semiconductor process design, circuit design, design automation tools, system and application software, all the way to large data centers. Power-ef?cient System Design originated from a desire to capture and highlight the exciting developments in the rapidly evolving ?eld of power and energy op- mization in electronic and computer based systems. Tremendous progress has been made in the last two decades, and the topic continues to be a fascinating research area. To develop a clearer focus, we have concentrated on the relatively higher level of design abstraction that is loosely called the system level. In addition to the ext- sive coverage of traditional power reduction targets such as CPU and memory, the book is distinguished by detailed coverage of relatively modern power optimization ideas focussing on components such as compilers, operating systems, servers, data centers, and graphics processors.

Based on the proven premise that "individuals are perfectly designed to get the outcomes they get", The Power of Living By Design provokes your thoughts using a framework called the Successful Life Systems Design Model to guide you in understanding choices you’ve made in your life, either consciously or unconsciously. Integrating classic success principles from over twenty resources as alternative choices, The Power of Living By Design then provides a sequenced system to assure your future choices are aligned to efficiently work together toward your desired success. As builders follow the architect’s plans to remodel an outdated house into a beautiful home, with lessons from The Power of Living By Design, you can use the framework to identify the rooms in your life that merit remodelling and the sequenced system to create a personal blueprint for reconstruction. You become your own architect and builder of the future you yearn. For individuals that seek to understand the cause and effect of their choices and are looking for a systematic approach to changing some choices in their life, The Power of Living By Design is an integration of proven strategies and techniques to make a difference in designing a life of fulfillment.

If the defining goal of modern-day business can be isolated to just one item, it would be the search for competitive advantage. And, as everyone in business knows, it's a lot harder than it used to be. On the one hand, competition is more intense than ever--technological innovation, consumer expectations, government deregulation, all combine to create more opportunities for new competitors to change the basic rules of the game. On the other hand, most of the old reliable sources of competitive advantage are drying up: the hallowed strategies employed by GM, IBM, and AT&T to maintain their seemingly unassailable positions of dominance in the 1960s and 70s are as obsolete as the calvary charge. So in this volatile, unstable environment, where can competitive advantage be found? As David Nadler and Michael Tushman show, the last remaining source of truly sustainable competitive advantage lies in "organizational capabilities": the unique ways each organization structures its work and motivates its people to achieve clearly articulated strategic objectives. For too long, too many managers have thought about "organization" merely in terms of rearranging the boxes and lines on an organizational chart--but as Competing by Design clearly illustrates, organizational strength is found far beyond one-dimensional diagrams. Managers must, argue Nadler and Tushman, understand the concepts and learn the skills involved in designing their organization to exploit their inherent strengths. All the reengineering, restructuring, and downsizing in the world will merely destabilize a company if the change doesn't address the fundamental patterns of performance--and if the change doesn't recognize the unique core competencies of that company. In this landmark volume, the authors draw upon specific cases to illustrate the design process in practice as they provide a set of powerful, yet simple tools, for using strategic organization design to gain competitive advantage. They present a design process, explore key decisions managers face, and list the guiding principles for incorporating the design function as a continuing and integral process in organizations that are looking to the future. In 1918, Henry Ford's Dearborn assembly plant was the model of the new assembly-line technology. Today, the assembly plant is an aging relic, but, incredibly, the organizational architecture it spawned lives on in steep hierarchies, centralized bureaucracies, and narrowly defined jobs. As companies are coming to realize they can't compete successfully in the 21st century with organizations based on 19th century ideas, Competing by Design shows clearly and persuasively why--and, most importantly how--to harness the power of organizational architecture to unleash the competitive strengths embedded in each organization.

Practical Design of Power Supplies "In a rare and very welcome departure from the power industry's standard technical treatise, Ron Lenk's book . . . offers a clear, pragmatic view of the practical real-world aspects governing power supply design . . . . Engineers at all levels . . . can expect to gain an enlightened perspective normally gained only after years of design experience." --Frank Wahl, Managing Editor, PCIM Magazine "This is a real hands-on reference in which Ron has done an outstanding job of combining just enough theory for understanding, together with several lifetimes' worth of experience. I am confident that it is destined to become dog-eared and worn on the top of every power supply designer's desk." --Bob Mammano, Vice President Advanced Technology, Unitrode Practical Design of Power Supplies details key techniques and offers advice to engineers and technicians who want to design and build power supplies that work the first time they are turned on. Leading authority Ron Lenk presents current, experiment-based information that can save hours of research and design time. Containing many handy "Practice Notes" and real-world examples, Practical Design of Power Supplies is an excellent how-to reference to keep by your side throughout the design, lab, and production phases. The topics covered will be immediately useful in everyday circuits and systems work: * Common terms and instrumentation * How to design successful magnetics * How to compensate the feedback loop to obtain stable operation * Practical EMI * Topology selection * Worst-case analysis Practical Design of Power Supplies will be especially useful to designers who need to understand and implement the concepts behind loop compensation and magnetics design.

Comprehensive resource on power management ICs affording new levels of functionality and applications with cost reduction in various fields Design of Power Management Integrated Circuits is a comprehensive reference for power management IC design, covering the circuit design of main power management circuits like linear and switched-mode voltage regulators, along with sub-circuits such as power switches, gate drivers and their supply, level shifters, the error amplifier, current sensing, and control loop design. Circuits for protection and diagnostics, as well as aspects of the physical design like lateral and vertical power delivery, pin-out, floor planning, grounding/supply guidelines, and packaging, are also addressed. A full chapter is dedicated to the design of integrated passives. The text illustrates the application of power management integrated circuits (PMIC) to growth areas like computing, the internet of Things, mobility, and renewable energy. Includes numerous real-world examples, case studies, and exercises illustrating key design concepts and techniques. Offering a unique insight into this rapidly evolving technology through the author's experience developing PMICs in both the industrial and academic environment, Design of Power Management Integrated Circuits includes information on: Capacitive, inductive and hybrid DC-DC converters and their essential circuit blocks, covering error amplifiers, comparators, and ramp generators Sensing, protection, and diagnostics, covering thermal protection, inductive loads and clamping structures, under-voltage, reference and power-on reset generation Integrated MOS, MOM and MIM capacitors, integrated inductors Control loop design and PWM generation ensuring stability and fast transient response; subharmonic oscillations in current mode control (analysis and circuit design for slope compensation) DC behavior and DC-related circuit design, covering power efficiency, line and load regulation, error amplifier, dropout, and power transistor sizing Commonly used level shifters (including sizing rules) and cascaded (tapered) driver sizing and optimization guidelines Optimizing the physical design considering packaging, floor planning, EMI, pinout, PCB design and thermal design Design of Power Management Integrated Circuits is an essential resource on the subject for circuit designers/IC designers, system engineers, and application engineers, along with advanced undergraduate students and graduate students in related programs of study.

Whether you are a student, a newly-minted engineer entering the field of power electronics, a salesperson needing to understand a customer's needs, or a seasoned power supply designer desiring to track down a forgotten equation, this book will be a significant aid. Beginning with the basic definition of a power supply, we will traverse through voltage regulation techniques and the components necessary for their implementation, and then move on to the myriad of circuit topologies and control algorithms prevalent in modern-day design solutions. Separate chapters on feedback-loop compensation and magnetic design principles will build on this foundation, along with in-depth descriptions for dealing with regulations for electromagnetic compatibly, human safety, and energy efficiency issues. Additional chapters will describe the value proposition for digital control and the practical aspects power supply construction.