Knowles Blog

Knowles’ new multi-way balanced armature drivers simplify IEM design while delivering premium, customizable audio performance.

The Wilkinson Power Divider, designed by Ernest Wilkinson in the 1960s, uses quarter wave transformers to split an input signal into two equal phase output signals. Since the design is reciprocal, Wilkinson Power Dividers can also be used as a power combiner. With this flexibility, they are widely used in many RF and microwave communication systems, including those with multiple channels or complex feed networks.

Today’s power grids are under increasing strain, from rising instability and greater electrification demands to the rapid expansion of renewable energy sources. Together, these pressures are creating an urgent need for more resilient and responsive power distribution architectures.

Radio frequency (RF) power dividers are designed to split an incoming signal into multiple outputs such that there’s a portion of the original signal’s power in each output. Given their critical function, power dividers play a particularly important role in antenna systems, telecommunications, and signal processing.

Power electronics play a critical role in converting and managing electrical energy efficiently. As electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy systems, and consumer electronics quickly become more powerful, the demand for high-voltage power electronics is quickly increasing. This means the importance of components like bootstrap capacitors has grown significantly.

In 2025, our team continued to share insights intended to help engineers navigate evolving technologies, design challenges, and application demands. We hope our technical resources and industry perspectives have supported your work throughout the year, and we sincerely appreciate your continued trust and readership.

At CES 2026, Knowles is showcasing how its balanced armature technology enables premium audio experiences across earbuds, hearing devices, smart glasses, and other next-generation wearables.

By 2050, electricity is expected to more than double its share of final energy consumption, jumping from 23 percent to 52 percent. As a result, the way the world generates, transmits, stores, and uses energy is changing.

The performance of a resonant circuit comes down to its components. Two key factors, Q factor and capacitor equivalent series resistance (ESR), determine how efficiently energy moves through a resonator and how selectively it responds at its designed frequency.

As demand for high-efficiency and high-power-density inverters continues to grow, the so-called “flying” capacitor multilevel inverter is emerging as a strong choice for many power electronics systems.

Knowles has extended the range and performance of our Class I Ceramic C0G Series Capacitors to better support LLC type DC/DC converters in demanding environments.

Knowles showcased how its balanced armature technology is driving the future of intelligent audio with enhanced clarity, efficiency, and immersive sound across earbuds, headphones, gaming, and wearable devices.