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ISBN 978-1-280-13457-9

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 Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - Electric Current

Chapter 2 - Passivity (Engineering) and Voltage Source

Chapter 3 - Current Source

Chapter 4 - Phasor

Chapter 5 - Electric Power and Thévenin's Theorem

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Chapter 6 - RLC Circuit

Chapter 7 - p-n Junction

Chapter 8 - Electronic Engineering

Chapter 9 - Flip–flop

Chapter 10 - Electronic Circuit

Chapter 11 - Electronic Design Automation

Chapter 12 - Electronic Symbol

Chapter 13 - Circuit Design and Current–voltage Characteristic

Chapter 14 - Bipolar Transistor Biasing

Chapter 15 - Printed Circuit Board

Chapter 16 - Electrical Network and Pre–charge

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Chapter-1

Electric Current

Electric current is a flow of electric charge through a medium. This flowing electric

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charge is typically carried by moving electrons in a conductor such as wire. It can also be
carried by ions in an electrolyte, or, it can be carried by both ions and electrons in a
plasma.

The SI unit for measuring the rate of flow of electric charge is the ampere, which is
charge flowing through some surface at the rate of one coulomb per second. Electric
current is measured using an ammeter.

Symbol
The conventional symbol for current is I, which may seem puzzling. It originates from
the French phrase intensité de courant, or in English current intensity. This phrase is
frequently used when discussing the value of an electric current, especially in older texts;
modern practice often shortens this to simply current but current intensity is still used in
many recent textbooks. The I symbol was used by André-Marie Ampère himself, after
whom the unit of electric current is named, in formulating the eponymous Ampère's force
law which he discovered in 1820. The notation travelled from France to England where it
became standard, although at least one journal did not change from using C to I until
1896.

Conduction mechanisms in various media

In metallic solids, electricity flows by means of electrons, from lower to higher electrical
potential. In other media, any stream of charged objects may constitute an electric
current. To provide a definition of current that is independent of the type of charge
carriers flowing, conventional current is defined to flow in the same direction as positive
charges. So in metals where the charge carriers (electrons) are negative, conventional
current flows in the opposite direction as the electrons. In conductors where the charge
carriers are positive, conventional current flows in the same direction as the charge
carriers.

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In a vacuum, a beam of ions or electrons may be formed. In other conductive materials,
the electric current is due to the flow of both positively and negatively charged particles
at the same time. In still others, the current is entirely due to positive charge flow. For
example, the electric currents in electrolytes are flows of electrically charged atoms
(ions), which exist in both positive and negative varieties. In a common lead-acid
electrochemical cell, electric currents are composed of positive hydrogen ions (protons)
flowing in one direction, and negative sulfate ions flowing in the other. Electric currents
in sparks or plasma are flows of electrons as well as positive and negative ions. In ice and
in certain solid electrolytes, the electric current is entirely composed of flowing ions. In a
semiconductor it is sometimes useful to think of the current as due to the flow of positive
"holes" (the mobile positive charge carriers that are places where the semiconductor
crystal is missing a valence electron). This is the case in a p-type semiconductor.

Metals

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A solid conductive metal contains mobile, or free electrons, originating in the conduction
electrons. These electrons are bound to the metal lattice but no longer to any individual
atom. Even with no external electric field applied, these electrons move about randomly
due to thermal energy but, on average, there is zero net current within the metal. Given a
surface through which a metal wire passes, the number of electrons moving from one side
to the other in any period of time is on average equal to the number passing in the
opposite direction. As George Gamow put in his science-popularizing book, One, Two,
Three...Infinity (1947), "The metallic substances differ from all other materials by the fact
that the outer shells of their atoms are bound rather loosely, and often let one of their
electrons go free. Thus the interior of a metal is filled up with a large number of
unattached electrons that travel aimlessly around like a crowd of displaced persons.
When a metal wire is subjected to electric force applied on its opposite ends, these free
electrons rush in the direction of the force, thus forming what we call an electric current."

When a metal wire is connected across the two terminals of a DC voltage source such as
a battery, the source places an electric field across the conductor. The moment contact is
made, the free electrons of the conductor are forced to drift toward the positive terminal
under the influence of this field. The free electrons are therefore the charge carrier in a
typical solid conductor. For an electric current of 1 ampere, 1 coulomb of electric charge
(which consists of about 6.242 × 1018 elementary charges) drifts every second through
any plane through which the conductor passes.

For a steady flow of charge through a surface, the current I in amperes can be calculated
with the following equation:

where Q is the electric charge transferred through the surface over some time t. If Q and t
are measured in coulombs and seconds respectively, I is in amperes.

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More generally, electric current can be represented as the rate at which charge flows
through a given surface as:

Electrolytes

Electric currents in electrolytes are flows of electrically charged particles (ions). For
example, if an electric field is placed across a solution of Na+ and Cl− (and conditions are
right) the sodium ions move towards the negative electrode (cathode), while the chloride
ions move towards the positive electrode (anode). Reactions take place at both electrode
surfaces, absorbing each ion.

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Water-ice and certain solid electrolytes called proton conductors contain positive
hydrogen ions or "protons" which are mobile. In these materials, electric currents are
composed of moving protons, as opposed to the moving electrons found in metals.

In certain electrolyte mixtures, brightly-colored ions form the moving electric charges.
The slow migration of these ions means that the current is visible.

Gases and plasmas

In air and other ordinary gases below the breakdown field, the dominant source of
electrical conduction is via a relatively small number of mobile ions produced by
radioactive gases, ultraviolet light, or cosmic rays. Since the electrical conductivity is
low, gases are dielectrics or insulators. However, once the applied electric field
approaches the breakdown value, free electrons become sufficiently accelerated by the
electric field to create additional free electrons by colliding, and ionizing, neutral gas
atoms or molecules in a process called avalanche breakdown. The breakdown process
forms a plasma that contains a significant number of mobile electrons and positive ions,
causing it to behave as an electrical conductor. In the process, it forms a light emitting
conductive path, such as a spark, arc or lightning.

Plasma is the state of matter where some of the electrons in a gas are stripped or
"ionized" from their molecules or atoms. A plasma can be formed by high temperature, or
by application of a high electric or alternating magnetic field as noted above. Due to their
lower mass, the electrons in a plasma accelerate more quickly in response to an electric
field than the heavier positive ions, and hence carry the bulk of the current.

Vacuum

Since a "perfect vacuum" contains no charged particles, it normally behaves as perfect

insulator. However, metal electrode surfaces can cause a region of the vacuum to become
conductive by injecting free electrons or ions through either field electron emission or
thermionic emission. Thermionic emission occurs when the thermal energy exceeds the

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metal's work function, while field electron emission occurs when the electric field at the
surface of the metal is high enough to cause tunneling, which results in the ejection of
free electrons from the metal into the vacuum. Externally heated electrodes are often used
to generate an electron cloud as in the filament or indirectly heated cathode of vacuum
tubes. Cold electrodes can also spontaneously produce electron clouds via thermionic
emission when small incandescent regions (called cathode spots or anode spots) are
formed. These are incandescent regions of the electrode surface that are created by a
localized high current flow. These regions may be initiated by field electron emission, but
are then sustained by localized thermionic emission once a vacuum arc forms. These
small electron-emitting regions can form quite rapidly, even explosively, on a metal
surface subjected to a high electrical field. Vacuum tubes and sprytrons are some of the
electronic switching and amplifying devices based on vacuum conductivity.

Current density and Ohm's law

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Current density is a measure of the density of an electric current. It is defined as a vector
whose magnitude is the electric current per cross-sectional area. In SI units, the current
density is measured in amperes per square meter.

where I is current in the conductor, J is the current density, and A is the cross-sectional
area. The dot product of the two vector quantities (A and J) is a scalar that represents the
electric current.

Current density (current per unit area) J in a material is proportional to the conductivity σ
and electric field E in the medium:

Instead of conductivity, reciprocal quantity called resistivity ρ, can be used:

Conduction in semiconductor devices may occur by a combination of electric field (drift)

and diffusion, which is proportional to diffusion constant D and charge density αq. The
current density is then:

with q being the elementary charge and n the electron density. The carriers move in the
direction of decreasing concentration, so for electrons a positive current results for a
positive density gradient. If the carriers are holes, replace electron density n by the
negative of the hole density p.

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In linear anisotropic materials, σ, ρ and D are tensors.

In linear materials such as metals, and under low frequencies, the current density across
the conductor surface is uniform. In such conditions, Ohm's law states that the current is
directly proportional to the potential difference between two ends (across) of that metal
(ideal) resistor (or other ohmic device):

where I is the current, measured in amperes; V is the potential difference, measured in

volts; and R is the resistance, measured in ohms. The letter I stands for the German word,
"Intensität" meaning "Intensity". For alternating currents, especially at higher
frequencies, skin effect causes the current to spread unevenly across the conductor cross-

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section, with higher density near the surface, thus increasing the apparent resistance.

Drift speed
The mobile charged particles within a conductor move constantly in random directions,
like the particles of a gas. In order for there to be a net flow of charge, the particles must
also move together with an average drift rate. Electrons are the charge carriers in metals
and they follow an erratic path, bouncing from atom to atom, but generally drifting in the
opposite direction of the electric field. The speed at which they drift can be calculated
from the equation:

where

I is the electric current

n is number of charged particles per unit volume (or charge carrier density)
A is the cross-sectional area of the conductor
v is the drift velocity, and
Q is the charge on each particle.

Electric currents in solids typically flow very slowly. For example, in a copper wire of
cross-section 0.5 mm2, carrying a current of 5 A, the drift velocity of the electrons is on
the order of a millimetre per second. To take a different example, in the near-vacuum
inside a cathode ray tube, the electrons travel in near-straight lines at about a tenth of the
speed of light.

Any accelerating electric charge, and therefore any changing electric current, gives rise to
an electromagnetic wave that propagates at very high speed outside the surface of the
conductor. This speed is usually a significant fraction of the speed of light, as can be
deduced from Maxwell's Equations, and is therefore many times faster than the drift
velocity of the electrons. For example, in AC power lines, the waves of electromagnetic

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energy propagate through the space between the wires, moving from a source to a distant
load, even though the electrons in the wires only move back and forth over a tiny
distance.

The ratio of the speed of the electromagnetic wave to the speed of light in free space is
called the velocity factor, and depends on the electromagnetic properties of the conductor
and the insulating materials surrounding it, and on their shape and size.

The magnitudes (but, not the natures) of these three velocities can be illustrated by an
analogy with the three similar velocities associated with gases.

• The low drift velocity of charge carriers is analogous to air motion; in other
words, winds.
• The high speed of electromagnetic waves is roughly analogous to the speed of
sound in a gas (these waves move through the medium much faster than any

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individual particles do)
• The random motion of charges is analogous to heat - the thermal velocity of
randomly vibrating gas particles.

This analogy is extremely simplistic and incomplete: The rapid propagation of a sound
wave doesn't impart any change in the air molecules' drift velocity, whereas EM waves
do carry the energy to propagate the actual current at a rate which is much, much higher
than the electrons' drift velocity. To illustrate the difference: The sound and the change in
the air's drift velocity (the force of the wind gust) cross distance at rates equaling the
speeds of sound and of mechanical transmission of force (not higher than rate of drift
velocity); while a change in an EM field and the change in current (electrons' drift
velocity) both propagate across distance at rates much higher than the actual drift
velocity. You can hear wind much earlier than the force of the gust reaches you, but you
don't observe a change in an EM field earlier than you can observe the change of current.

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Electromagnetism

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According to Ampère's law, an electric current produces a magnetic field.

Electric current produces a magnetic field. The magnetic field can be visualized as a
pattern of circular field lines surrounding the wire.

Electric current can be directly measured with a galvanometer, but this method involves
breaking the electrical circuit, which is sometimes inconvenient. Current can also be
measured without breaking the circuit by detecting the magnetic field associated with the
current. Devices used for this include Hall effect sensors, current clamps, current
transformers, and Rogowski coils.

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The theory of Special Relativity allows one to transform the magnetic field into a static
electric field for an observer moving at the same speed as the charge in the diagram. The
amount of current is particular to a reference frame.

Conventions

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The electrons, the charge carriers in an electrical circuit, flow in the opposite direction of
the conventional electric current.

The symbol for a battery in a circuit diagram.

A flow of positive charges gives the same electric current as a flow of negative charges in
the opposite direction. Since current can be the flow of either positive or negative
charges, or both, a convention for the direction of current which is independent of the
type of charge carriers is needed. Therefore the direction of conventional current is
defined to be the direction of the flow of positive charges.

In metals, which make up the wires and other conductors in most electrical circuits, the
positive charges are immobile, and only the negatively charged electrons flow. Because

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the electron carries negative charge, the electron motion in a metal conductor is in the
direction opposite to that of conventional (or electric) current.

Reference direction

When analyzing electrical circuits, the actual direction of current through a specific
circuit element is usually unknown. Consequently, each circuit element is assigned a
current variable with an arbitrarily chosen reference direction. When the circuit is solved,
the circuit element currents may have positive or negative values. A negative value
means that the actual direction of current through that circuit element is opposite that of
the chosen reference direction. In electronic circuits the reference current directions are
usually chosen so that all currents flow toward ground. This often matches conventional
current direction, because in many circuits the power supply voltage is positive with
respect to ground.

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Occurrences

Natural examples include lightning and the solar wind, the source of the polar auroras
(the aurora borealis and aurora australis). The artificial form of electric current is the flow
of conduction electrons in metal wires, such as the overhead power lines that deliver
electrical energy across long distances and the smaller wires within electrical and
electronic equipment. In electronics, other forms of electric current include the flow of
electrons through resistors or through the vacuum in a vacuum tube, the flow of ions
inside a battery or a neuron, and the flow of holes within a semiconductor.

Current Measurement
Current can be measured using an ammeter.

At the circuit level there are various techniques that can be used to measure current:

• Shunt resistor
• Hall effect current sensor transducers
• Transformer(however dc cannot be measured)
• Magnetoresistive Field Sensors

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Chapter-2

Passivity (Engineering) and Voltage Source

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Passivity (engineering)
Passivity is a property of engineering systems, used in a variety of engineering
disciplines, but most commonly found in analog electronics and control systems. A
passive component, depending on field, may be either a component that consumes (but
does not produce) energy (thermodynamic passivity), or a component that is incapable of
power gain (incremental passivity).

A component that is not passive is called an active component. An electronic circuit

consisting entirely of passive components is called a passive circuit (and has the same
properties as a passive component). Used without qualifier, the term passive is
ambiguous. Typically, analog designers use this term to refer to incrementally passive
components and systems, while control systems engineers will use this to refer to
thermodynamically passive ones.

Thermodynamic passivity
In control systems and circuit network theory, a passive component or circuit is one that
consumes energy, but does not produce energy. Under this methodology, voltage and
current sources are considered active, while resistors, transistors, tunnel diodes, glow
tubes, capacitors, metamaterials and other dissipative and energy-neutral components are
considered passive. Circuit designers will sometimes refer to this class of components as
dissipative, or thermodynamically passive.

While many books give definitions for passivity, many of these contain subtle errors in
how initial conditions are treated (and, occasionally, the definitions do not generalize to
all types of nonlinear time-varying systems with memory). Below is a correct, formal
definition, taken from Wyatt et al. (which also explains the problems with many other
definitions). Given an n-port R with a state representation S, and initial state x, define
available energy EA as:

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where the notation supx→T≥0 indicates that the supremum is taken over all T ≥ 0 and all
admissible pairs {v(·), i(·)} with the fixed initial state x (e.g., all voltage–current
trajectories for a given initial condition of the system). A system is considered passive if
EA is finite for all initial states x. Otherwise, the system is considered active. Roughly
speaking, the inner product is the instantaneous power (e.g., the product of
voltage and current), and EA is the upper bound on the integral of the instantaneous power
(i.e., energy). This upper bound (taken over all T ≥ 0) is the available energy in the
system for the particular initial condition x. If, for all possible initial states of the system,
the energy available is finite, then the system is called passive.

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Incremental passivity
In circuit design, informally, passive components refer to ones that are not capable of
power gain. Under this definition, passive components include capacitors, inductors,
resistors, diodes, transformers, voltage sources, and current sources. They exclude
devices like transistors, vacuum tubes, relays, tunnel diodes, and glow tubes. Formally,
for a memoryless two-terminal element, this means that the current–voltage characteristic
is monotonically increasing. For this reason, control systems and circuit network theorists
refer to these devices as locally passive, incrementally passive, increasing, monotone
increasing, or monotonic. It is not clear how this definition would be formalized to
multiport devices with memory – as a practical matter, circuit designers use this term
informally, so it may not be necessary to formalize it.

Systems for which the small signal model is not passive are sometimes called locally
active (e.g. transistors and tunnel diodes). Systems that can generate power about a time-
variant unperturbed state are often called parametrically active (e.g. certain types of
nonlinear capacitors) .

Other definitions of passivity

In some very informal settings, passivity may refer to the simplicity of the device,
although this definition is now almost universally considered incorrect. Here, devices like
diodes would be considered active, and only very simple devices like capacitors,
inductors, and resistors are considered passive. In some cases, the term "linear element"
may be a more appropriate term than "passive device." In other cases, "solid state device"
may be a more appropriate term than "active device."

Stability
Passivity, in most cases, can be used to demonstrate that passive circuits will be stable
under specific criteria. Note that this only works if only one of the above definitions of
passivity is used – if components from the two are mixed, the systems may be unstable

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under any criteria. In addition, passive circuits will not necessarily be stable under all
stability criteria. For instance, a resonant series LC circuit will have unbounded voltage
output for a bounded voltage input, but will be stable in the sense of Lyapunov, and given
bounded energy input will have bounded energy output.

Passivity is frequently used in control systems to design stable control systems or to show
stability in control systems. This is especially important in the design of large, complex
control systems (e.g. stability of airplanes). Passivity is also used in some areas of circuit
design, especially filter design.

Passive filter
A passive filter is a kind of electronic filter that is made only from passive elements – in
contrast to an active filter, it does not require an external power source (beyond the

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signal). Since most filters are linear, in most cases, passive filters are composed of just
the four basic linear elements – resistors, capacitors, inductors, and transformers. More
complex passive filters may involve nonlinear elements, or more complex linear
elements, such as transmission lines.

Television signal splitter consisting of a passive high-pass filter (left) and a passive low-
pass filter (right). The antenna is connected to the screw terminals to the left of center.

A passive filter has several advantages over an active filter:

• Guaranteed stability
• Passive filters scale better to large signals (tens of amperes, hundreds of volts),
where active devices are often impractical

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 • No power consumption.
• May be less expensive in discrete designs (unless large coils are required)
• For linear filters, may be, more linear than filters including active (and therefore
non-linear) elements, depending on components required.

They are commonly used in speaker crossover design (due to the moderately large
voltages and currents, and the lack of easy access to power), filters in power distribution
networks (due to the large voltages and currents), power supply bypassing (due to low
cost, and in some cases, power requirements), as well as a variety of discrete and home
brew circuits (for low-cost and simplicity). Passive filters are uncommon in monolithic
integrated circuit design, where active devices are inexpensive compared to resistors and
capacitors, and inductors are prohibitively expensive. Passive filters are still found,
however, in hybrid integrated circuits. Indeed, it may be the desire to incorporate a
passive filter that leads the designer to use the hybrid format.

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Voltage source
In electric circuit theory, an ideal voltage source is a circuit element where the voltage
across it is independent of the current through it. A voltage source is the dual of a current
source. In analysis, a voltage source supplies a constant DC or AC potential between its
terminals for any current flow through it. Real-world sources of electrical energy, such as
batteries, generators, or power systems, can be modeled for analysis purposes as a
combination of an ideal voltage source and additional combinations of impedance
elements.

A schematic diagram of an ideal voltage source, V, driving a resistor, R, and creating a

current I

Ideal voltage sources

An ideal voltage source is a mathematical abstraction that simplifies the analysis of

electric circuits. If the voltage across an ideal voltage source can be specified
independently of any other variable in a circuit, it is called an independent voltage
source. Conversely, if the voltage across an ideal voltage source is determined by some
other voltage or current in a circuit, it is called a dependent or controlled voltage
source. A mathematical model of an amplifier will include dependent voltage sources

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 whose magnitude is governed by some fixed relation to an input signal, for example. In
the analysis of faults on electrical power systems, the whole network of interconnected
sources and transmission lines can be usefully replaced by an ideal (AC) voltage source
and a single equivalent impedance.

Voltage Source Current Source

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Controlled Voltage Source Controlled Current Source

Battery of cells Single cell

Symbols used for voltage sources

The internal resistance of an ideal voltage source is zero; it is able to supply or absorb
any amount of current. The current through an ideal voltage source is completely
determined by the external circuit. When connected to an open circuit, there is zero
current and thus zero power. When connected to a load resistance, the current through the
source approaches infinity as the load resistance approaches zero (a short circuit). Thus,
an ideal voltage source can supply unlimited power.

No real voltage source is ideal; all have a non-zero effective internal resistance, and none
can supply unlimited current. However, the internal resistance of a real voltage source is
effectively modeled in linear circuit analysis by combining a non-zero resistance in series
with an ideal voltage source (a Thévenin equivalent circuit).

Comparison between voltage and current sources

Most sources of electrical energy (the mains, a battery) are modeled as voltage sources.
An ideal voltage source provides no energy when it is loaded by an open circuit (i.e. an
infinite impedance), but approaches infinite energy and current when the load resistance
approaches zero (a short circuit). Such a theoretical device would have a zero ohm output
impedance in series with the source. A real-world voltage source has a very low, but non-
zero output impedance: often much less than 1 ohm.

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Conversely, a current source provides a constant current, as long as the load connected to
the source terminals has sufficiently low impedance. An ideal current source would
provide no energy to a short circuit and approach infinite energy and voltage as the load
resistance approaches infinity (an open circuit). An ideal current source has an infinite
output impedance in parallel with the source. A real-world current source has a very
high, but finite output impedance. In the case of transistor current sources, impedance of
a few megohms (at low frequencies) is typical.

Since no ideal sources of either variety exist (all real-world examples have finite and non-
zero source impedance), any current source can be considered as a voltage source with
the same source impedance and vice versa. Voltage sources and current sources are
sometimes said to be duals of each other and any non ideal source can be converted from
one to the other by applying Norton's or Thevenin's theorems.

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 Chapter-3

Current Source

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Figure 1: An ideal current source, I, driving a resistor, R, and creating a voltage V

A current source is an electrical or electronic device that delivers or absorbs electric

current. A current source is the dual of a voltage source. The term constant-current sink
is sometimes used for sources fed from a negative voltage supply. Figure 1 shows a
schematic for an ideal current source driving a resistor load.

Ideal current sources

Voltage source Current Source

Controlled Voltage Source Controlled Current Source

Battery of cells Single cell

Figure 2: Source symbols

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In circuit theory, an ideal current source is a circuit element where the current through it
is independent of the voltage across it. It is a mathematical model, which real devices can
only approach in performance. If the current through an ideal current source can be
specified independently of any other variable in a circuit, it is called an independent
current source. Conversely, if the current through an ideal current source is determined
by some other voltage or current in a circuit, it is called a dependent or controlled
current source. Symbols for these sources are shown in Figure 2.

An independent current source with zero current is identical to an ideal open circuit. For
this reason, the internal resistance of an ideal current source is infinite. The voltage across
an ideal current source is completely determined by the circuit it is connected to. When
connected to a short circuit, there is zero voltage and thus zero power delivered. When
connected to a load resistance, the voltage across the source approaches infinity as the
load resistance approaches infinity (an open circuit). Thus, an ideal current source, if such
a thing existed in reality, could supply unlimited power and so would represent an

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unlimited source of energy.

No real current source is ideal (no unlimited energy sources exist) and all have a finite
internal resistance (none can supply unlimited voltage). However, the internal resistance
of a physical current source is effectively modeled in circuit analysis by combining a
non-zero resistance in parallel with an ideal current source (the Norton equivalent
circuit). The connection of an ideal open circuit to an ideal non-zero current source does
not represent any physically realizable system.

Physical current sources

Resistor current source

The simplest non-ideal current source consists of a voltage source in series with a
resistor. The current available from such a source is given by the ratio of the voltage
across the voltage source to the resistance of the resistor. This value of current will only
be delivered to a load with zero voltage drop across its terminals (a short circuit, an
uncharged capacitor, a charged inductor, a virtual ground circuit, etc.) The current
delivered to a load with nonzero voltage (drop) across its terminals (a linear or nonlinear
resistor with a finite resistance, a charged capacitor, an uncharged inductor, a voltage
source, etc.) will always be different. It is given by the ratio of the voltage drop across the
resistor (the difference between the exciting voltage and the voltage across the load) to its
resistance. For a nearly ideal current source, the value of the resistor should be very large
but this implies that, for a specified current, the voltage source must be very large (in the
limit as the resistance and the voltage go to infinity, the current source will become ideal
and the current will not depend at all on the voltage across the load). Thus, efficiency is
low (due to power loss in the resistor) and it is usually impractical to construct a 'good'
current source this way. Nonetheless, it is often the case that such a circuit will provide
adequate performance when the specified current and load resistance are small. For
example, a 5 V voltage source in series with a 4.7 kilohm resistor will provide an

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approximately constant current of 1 mA (±5%) to a load resistance in the range of 50 to
450 ohm.

A Van de Graaff generator is an example of such a high voltage current source. It

behaves as an almost constant current source because of its very high output voltage
coupled with its very high output resistance and so it supplies the same few
microamperes at any output voltage up to hundreds of thousands of volts (or even tens of
megavolts) for large laboratory versions.

Active current sources without negative feedback

Active current sources have many important applications in electronic circuits. Current
sources (current-stable resistors) are often used in place of ohmic resistors in analog
integrated circuits to generate a current that depends slightly on the voltage across the

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load.

Transistor current sources with constant input voltage

The common collector, common drain and common cathode configurations driven by a
constant input voltage naturally behave as current sources (or sinks) because the output
impedance of these devices is naturally high. The simple current mirror is an example of
such a current source widely used in integrated circuits.

FET current sources with zero input voltage

A JFET can be made to act as a current source by tying its gate to its source. The current
then flowing is the IDSS of the FET. These can be purchased with this connection already
made and in this case the devices are called current regulator diodes or constant current
diodes or current limiting diodes (CLD). An enhancement mode N channel MOSFET can
be used in the circuits listed below.

Current sources with series negative feedback

Simple transistor current source

Figure 3: Typical constant current source (CCS)

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Figure 3 shows a typical constant current source (CCS). DZ1 is a zener diode which,
when reverse biased (as shown in the circuit) has a constant voltage drop across it
irrespective of the current flowing through it. Thus, as long as the zener current (IZ) is
above a certain level (called holding current), the voltage across the zener diode (VZ) will
be constant. Resistor R1 supplies the zener current and the base current (IB) of NPN
transistor (Q1). The constant zener voltage is applied across the base of Q1 and emitter
resistor R2. The operation of the circuit is as follows:

Voltage across R2 (VR2) is given by VZ - VBE, where VBE is the base-emitter drop of Q1.
The emitter current of Q1 which is also the current through R2 is given by

WT
Since VZ is constant and VBE is also (approximately) constant for a given temperature, it
follows that VR2 is constant and hence IE is also constant. Due to transistor action, emitter
current IE is very nearly equal to the collector current IC of the transistor (which in turn, is
the current through the load). Thus, the load current is constant (neglecting the output
resistance of the transistor due to the Early effect) and the circuit operates as a constant
current source. As long as the temperature remains constant (or doesn't vary much), the
load current will be independent of the supply voltage, R1 and the transistor's gain. R2
allows the load current to be set at any desirable value and is calculated by

or

since VBE is typically 0.65 V for a silicon device.

(IR2 is also the emitter current and is assumed to be the same as the collector or required
load current, provided hFE is sufficiently large). Resistance R1 at resistor R1 is calculated
as

where K = 1.2 to 2 (so that R1 is low enough to ensure adequate IB),

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and hFE(min) is the lowest acceptable current gain for the particular transistor type being
used.

WT
Figure 5: Typical constant current source (CCS) using LED instead of zener

The Zener diode can be replaced by any other diode, e.g. a light-emitting diode LED1 as
shown in Figure 5. The LED voltage drop (VD) is now used to derive the constant voltage
and also has the additional advantage of tracking (compensating) VBE changes due to
temperature. R2 is calculated as

and R1 as

, where ID is the LED current.

Simple transistor current source with diode compensation

Figure 4: Typical constant current source (CCS) with diode compensation

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Temperature changes will change the output current delivered by the circuit of Figure 3
because VBE is sensitive to temperature. Temperature dependence can be compensated
using the circuit of Figure 4 that includes a standard diode D (of the same semiconductor
material as the transistor) in series with the Zener diode as shown in the image on the left.
The diode drop (VD) tracks the VBE changes due to temperature and thus significantly
counteracts temperature dependence of the CCS.

Resistance R2 is now calculated as

Since VD = VBE = 0.65 V,

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(In practice VD is never exactly equal to VBE and hence it only suppresses the change in
VBE rather than nulling it out.)

R1 is calculated as

(the compensating diode's forward voltage drop VD appears in

the equation and is typically 0.65 V for silicon devices.)

This method is most effective for Zener diodes rated at 5.6 V or more. For breakdown
diodes of less than 5.6 V, the compensating diode is usually not required because the
breakdown mechanism is not as temperature dependent as it is in breakdown diodes
above this voltage.

Current mirror with emitter degeneration

Series negative feedback is also used in the two-transistor current mirror with emitter
degeneration. Negative feedback is a basic feature in some current mirrors using multiple
transistors, such as the Widlar current source and the Wilson current source.

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Op-amp current sources...

Figure 6: Typical op-amp current source. The transistor is not needed if the required
current doesn't exceed the sourcing ability of the op-amp. The current will be the zener
voltage divided by the sense resistor.

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...with series negative feedback...
Another common method is to use a negative feedback to set the current and remove the
dependence on the Vbe of the transistor. Figure 6 shows a very common approach using
an op amp with the non-inverting input connected to a voltage source (such as the Zener
in an above example) and the inverting input connected to the same node as the resistor
and emitter of the transistor. The circuit is actually a non-inverting amplifier driven by a
constant input voltage. It keeps up this constant voltage across the constant sense resistor;
as a result, the current flowing through the load is constant as well.

...with parallel negative feedback

In the case of op-amp circuits (e.g., an op-amp voltage-to-current converter) sometimes it
is desired to inject a precisely known current through a resistor into the inverting input
(as an offset of signal input for instance). The combination of the input voltage source
and the resistor will approximate an ideal current source with value V/R. The op-amp
inverting input will be at virtual ground.

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Current source made by a voltage regulator

WT
Figure 7: Constant current source using the LM317 voltage regulator

The circuit of Figure 7 using the LM317 voltage regulator is used to present a constant
current source. The voltage regulator keeps up a constant voltage drop (1.25 V) across a
constant resistor (1.25 Ω); so, a constant current (1 A) flows through the resistor and the
load. The LED is on when the voltage across the load exceeds 1.8 V (the indicator circuit
introduces some error).

Current and voltage source comparison

Most sources of electrical energy (mains electricity, a battery, ...) are best modeled as
voltage sources. Such sources provide constant voltage, which means that as long as the
amount of current drawn from the source is within the source's capabilities, its output
voltage stays constant. An ideal voltage source provides no energy when it is loaded by
an open circuit (i.e. an infinite impedance), but approaches infinite power and current
when the load resistance approaches zero (a short circuit). Such a theoretical device
would have a zero ohm output impedance in series with the source. A real-world voltage
source has a very low, but non-zero output impedance: often much less than 1 ohm.

Conversely, a current source provides a constant current, as long as the load connected to
the source terminals has sufficiently low impedance. An ideal current source would
provide no energy to a short circuit and approach infinite energy and voltage as the load
resistance approaches infinity (an open circuit). An ideal current source has an infinite
output impedance in parallel with the source. A real-world current source has a very
high, but finite output impedance. In the case of transistor current sources, impedances of
a few megohms (at DC) are typical.

An ideal current source cannot be connected to an ideal open circuit because this would
create the paradox of running a constant, non-zero current (from the current source)
through an element with a defined zero current (the open circuit). Nor can an ideal

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voltage source be connected to an ideal short circuit (R=0), since this would result a
similar paradox of finite non zero voltage across an element with defined zero voltage
(the short circuit).

Because no ideal sources of either variety exist (all real-world examples have finite and
non-zero source impedance), any current source can be considered as a voltage source
with the same source impedance and vice versa. These concepts are dealt with by
Norton's and Thévenin's theorems.

WT
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Chapter-4

Phasor

WT
An example of series RLC circuit and respective phasor diagram

In physics and engineering, a phase vector, or phasor, is a representation of a sine wave

whose amplitude (A), phase (θ), and frequency (ω) are time-invariant. It is a subset of a
more general concept called analytic representation. Phasors reduce the dependencies on
these parameters to three independent factors, thereby simplifying certain kinds of
calculations. In particular the frequency factor, which also includes the time-dependence
of the sine wave, is often common to all the components of a linear combination of sine
waves. Using phasors, it can be factored out, leaving just the static amplitude and phase
information to be combined algebraically (rather than trigonometrically). Similarly, linear
differential equations can be reduced to algebraic ones. The term phasor therefore often
refers to just those two factors. In older texts, a phasor is also referred to as a sinor.

Definition
Euler's formula indicates that sine waves can be represented mathematically as the sum of
two complex-valued functions:

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or as the real part of one of the functions:

As indicated above, phasor can refer to either or just the complex constant,
. In the latter case, it is understood to be a shorthand notation, encoding the
amplitude and phase of an underlying sinusoid.

An even more compact shorthand is angle notation:

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A phasor can be seen as a rotating vector. The graphical representation (on paper) is
at t = 0.

The sine wave can be understood as the projection onto the real axis of a rotating vector
on the complex plane. The modulus of this vector is the amplitude of the oscillations,
while its argument is the total phase ωt + θ. The phase constant θ represents the angle that
the complex vector forms with the real axis at t = 0.

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Phasor arithmetic
Multiplication by a constant (scalar)

Multiplication of the phasor by a complex constant, produces another

phasor. That means its only effect is to change the amplitude and phase of the underlying
sinusoid:

In electronics, would represent an impedance, which is independent of time. In

particular it is not the shorthand notation for another phasor. Multiplying a phasor current

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by an impedance produces a phasor voltage. But the product of two phasors (or squaring
a phasor) would represent the product of two sine waves, which is a non-linear operation
that produces new frequency components. Phasor notation can only represent systems
with one frequency, such as a linear system stimulated by a sinusoid.

Differentiation and integration

The time derivative or integral of a phasor produces another phasor. For example:

Therefore, in phasor representation, the time derivative of a sinusoid becomes just

multiplication by the constant, Similarly, integrating a phasor

corresponds to multiplication by The time-dependent factor, , is

unaffected. When we solve a linear differential equation with phasor arithmetic, we are
merely factoring out of all terms of the equation, and reinserting it into the answer.
For example, consider the following differential equation for the voltage across the
capacitor in an RC circuit:

When the voltage source in this circuit is sinusoidal:

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we may substitute:

where phasor and phasor is the unknown quantity to be determined.

In the phasor shorthand notation, the differential equation reduces to:

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Solving for the phasor capacitor voltage gives:

As we have seen, the factor multiplying represents differences of the amplitude and
phase of relative to and

In polar coordinate form, it is:

Therefore:

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Addition

WT The sum of phasors as addition of rotating vectors

The sum of multiple phasors produces another phasor. That is because the sum of sine
waves with the same frequency is also a sine wave with that frequency:

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where:

or, via the law of cosines on the complex plane (or the trigonometric identity for angle
differences):

where Δθ = θ1 − θ2. A key point is that A3 and θ3 do not depend on ω or t, which is what
makes phasor notation possible. The time and frequency dependence can be suppressed

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and re-inserted into the outcome as long as the only operations used in between are ones
that produce another phasor. In angle notation, the operation shown above is written:

Another way to view addition is that two vectors with coordinates [A1 cos(ωt+θ1), A1
sin(ωt+θ1)] and [A2 cos(ωt+θ2), A2 sin(ωt+θ2)] are added vectorially to produce a
resultant vector with coordinates [A3 cos(ωt+θ3), A3 sin(ωt+θ3)].

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 WT
Phasor diagram of three waves in perfect destructive interference

In physics, this sort of addition occurs when sine waves "interfere" with each other,
constructively or destructively. The static vector concept provides useful insight into
questions like this: "What phase difference would be required between three identical
waves for perfect cancellation?" In this case, simply imagine taking three vectors of equal
length and placing them head to tail such that the last head matches up with the first tail.
Clearly, the shape which satisfies these conditions is an equilateral triangle, so the angle
between each phasor to the next is 120° (2π/3 radians), or one third of a wavelength λ/3.
So the phase difference between each wave must also be 120°, as is the case in three-
phase power

In other words, what this shows is:

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In the example of three waves, the phase difference between the first and the last wave
was 240 degrees, while for two waves destructive interference happens at 180 degrees. In
the limit of many waves, the phasors must form a circle for destructive interference, so
that the first phasor is nearly parallel with the last. This means that for many sources,
destructive interference happens when the first and last wave differ by 360 degrees, a full
wavelength λ. This is why in single slit diffraction, the minima occurs when light from
the far edge travels a full wavelength further than the light from the near edge.

Phasor diagrams

Electrical engineers, electronics engineers, electronic engineering technicians and aircraft

engineers all use phasor diagrams to visualize complex constants and variables (phasors).
Like vectors, arrows drawn on graph paper or computer displays represent phasors.
Cartesian and polar representations each have advantages.

WT
Circuit laws

With phasors, the techniques for solving DC circuits can be applied to solve AC circuits.
A list of the basic laws is given below.

• Ohm's law for resistors: a resistor has no time delays and therefore doesn't
change the phase of a signal therefore V=IR remains valid.
• Ohm's law for resistors, inductors, and capacitors: V = IZ where Z is the
complex impedance.
• In an AC circuit we have real power (P) which is a representation of the average
power into the circuit and reactive power (Q) which indicates power flowing back
and forward. We can also define the complex power S = P + jQ and the apparent
power which is the magnitude of S. The power law for an AC circuit expressed in
phasors is then S = VI* (where I* is the complex conjugate of I).
• Kirchhoff's circuit laws work with phasors in complex form

Given this we can apply the techniques of analysis of resistive circuits with phasors to
analyze single frequency AC circuits containing resistors, capacitors, and inductors.
Multiple frequency linear AC circuits and AC circuits with different waveforms can be
analyzed to find voltages and currents by transforming all waveforms to sine wave
components with magnitude and phase then analyzing each frequency separately, as
allowed by the superposition theorem.

Power engineering
In analysis of three phase AC power systems, usually a set of phasors is defined as the
three complex cube roots of unity, graphically represented as unit magnitudes at angles of
0, 120 and 240 degrees. By treating polyphase AC circuit quantities as phasors, balanced
circuits can be simplified and unbalanced circuits can be treated as an algebraic
combination of symmetrical circuits. This approach greatly simplifies the work required
in electrical calculations of voltage drop, power flow, and short-circuit currents. In the

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context of power systems analysis, the phase angle is often given in degrees, and the
magnitude in rms value rather than the peak amplitude of the sinusoid.

The technique of synchrophasors uses digital instruments to measure the phasors

representing transmission system voltages at widespread points in a transmission
network. Small changes in the phasors are sensitive indicators of power flow and system
stability.

WT
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Chapter-5

Electric Power and Thévenin's Theorem

Electric power

WT
Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit.
The SI unit of power is the watt.

Electric energy is transmitted with overhead lines on pylons like these in Brisbane,
Australia.

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When electric current flows in a circuit, it can transfer energy to do mechanical or
thermodynamic work. Devices convert electrical energy into many useful forms, such as
heat (electric heaters), light (light bulbs), motion (electric motors), sound (loudspeaker),
information technological processes (computers), or even chemical changes. Electricity
can be produced mechanically by generation, or chemically, or by direct conversion from
light in photovoltaic cells, also it can be stored chemically in batteries.

Mathematics of electric power

Circuits

Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical

equations. The term wattage is used colloquially to mean "electric power in watts."

Direct current

WT
In direct current resistive circuits, electrical power is calculated using Joule's law:

where P is the electric power, V the potential difference, and I the electric current.

In the case of resistive (Ohmic, or linear) loads, Joule's law can be combined with Ohm's
law (I = V/R) to produce alternative expressions for the dissipated power:

where R is the electrical resistance.

Alternating current
In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductance and
capacitance may result in periodic reversals of the direction of energy flow. The portion
of power flow that, averaged over a complete cycle of the AC waveform, results in net
transfer of energy in one direction is known as real power (also referred to as active
power). That portion of power flow due to stored energy, that returns to the source in
each cycle, is known as reactive power.

Power triangle The components of AC power

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The relationship between real power, reactive power and apparent power can be
expressed by representing the quantities as vectors. Real power is represented as a
horizontal vector and reactive power is represented as a vertical vector. The apparent
power vector is the hypotenuse of a right triangle formed by connecting the real and
reactive power vectors. This representation is often called the power triangle. Using the
Pythagorean Theorem, the relationship among real, reactive and apparent power is:

(apparent power)2 = (real power)2 + (reactive power)2

Real and reactive powers can also be calculated directly from the apparent power, when
the current and voltage are both sinusoids with a known phase angle between them:

(real power) = (apparent power)cos(θ)

(reactive power) = (apparent power)sin(θ)

WT
The ratio of real power to apparent power is called power factor and is a number always
between 0 and 1. Where the currents and voltages have non-sinusoidal forms, power
factor is generalized to include the effects of distortion.

In space

Electrical power flows wherever electric and magnetic fields exist together and fluctuate
in the same place. The simplest example of this is in electrical circuits, as the preceding
section showed. In the general case, however, the simple equation P = IV must be
replaced by a more complex calculation, the integral of the cross-product of the electrical
and magnetic field vectors over a specified area, thus:

The result is a scalar since it is the surface integral of the Poynting vector.

Thévenin's theorem
In circuit theory, Thévenin's theorem for linear electrical networks states that any
combination of voltage sources, current sources, and resistors with two terminals is
electrically equivalent to a single voltage source V and a single series resistor R. For
single frequency AC systems the theorem can also be applied to general impedances, not
just resistors. The theorem was first discovered by German scientist Hermann von
Helmholtz in 1853, but was then rediscovered in 1883 by French telegraph engineer Léon
Charles Thévenin (1857–1926).

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This theorem states that a circuit of voltage sources and resistors can be converted into a
Thévenin equivalent, which is a simplification technique used in circuit analysis. The
Thévenin equivalent can be used as a good model for a power supply or battery (with the
resistor representing the internal impedance and the source representing the electromotive
force). The circuit consists of an ideal voltage source in series with an ideal resistor.

Any black box containing only voltage sources, current sources, and other resistors can

WT
be converted to a Thévenin equivalent circuit, comprising exactly one voltage source and
one resistor.

Calculating the Thévenin equivalent

To calculate the equivalent circuit, the resistance and voltage are needed, so two
equations are required. These two equations are usually obtained by using the following
steps, but any conditions placed on the terminals of the circuit should also work:

1. Calculate the output voltage, VAB, when in open circuit condition (no load
resistor—meaning infinite resistance). This is VTh.
2. Calculate the output current, IAB, when the output terminals are short circuited
(load resistance is 0). RTh equals VTh divided by this IAB.

The equivalent circuit is a voltage source with voltage VTh in series with a resistance RTh.

Step 2 could also be thought of as:

2a. Replace voltage sources with short circuits, and current sources with open
circuits.
2b. Calculate the resistance between terminals A and B. This is RTh.

The Thévenin-equivalent voltage is the voltage at the output terminals of the original
circuit. When calculating a Thévenin-equivalent voltage, the voltage divider principle is
often useful, by declaring one terminal to be Vout and the other terminal to be at the
ground point.

The Thévenin-equivalent resistance is the resistance measured across points A and B

"looking back" into the circuit. It is important to first replace all voltage- and current-
sources with their internal resistances. For an ideal voltage source, this means replace the
voltage source with a short circuit. For an ideal current source, this means replace the
current source with an open circuit. Resistance can then be calculated across the terminals

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using the formulae for series and parallel circuits. This method is valid only for circuits
with independent sources. If there are dependent sources in the circuit, another method
must be used such as connecting a test source across A and B and calculating the voltage
across or current through the test source.

Example

WT
Step 0: The original circuit

Step 1: Calculating the equivalent output voltage

Step 2: Calculating the equivalent resistance

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 Step 3: The equivalent circuit

In the example, calculating the equivalent voltage:

WT
(notice that R1 is not taken into consideration, as above calculations are done in an open
circuit condition between A and B, therefore no current flows through this part, which
means there is no current through R1 and therefore no voltage drop along this part)

Calculating equivalent resistance:

Conversion to a Norton equivalent

A Norton equivalent circuit is related to the Thévenin equivalent by the following:

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Practical limitations
• Many, if not most circuits are only linear over a certain range of values, thus the
Thévenin equivalent is valid only within this linear range and may not be valid
outside the range.

• The Thévenin equivalent has an equivalent I-V characteristic only from the point
of view of the load.

• The power dissipation of the Thévenin equivalent is not necessarily identical to

the power dissipation of the real system. However, the power dissipated by an
external resistor between the two output terminals is the same however the
internal circuit is represented.

WT
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Chapter-6

RLC Circuit

WT A series RLC circuit: a resistor, inductor, and a capacitor

An RLC circuit (or LCR circuit) is an electrical circuit consisting of a resistor, an

inductor, and a capacitor, connected in series or in parallel. The RLC part of the name is
due to those letters being the usual electrical symbols for resistance, inductance and
capacitance respectively. The circuit forms a harmonic oscillator for current and will
resonate in just the same way as an LC circuit will. The difference that the presence of
the resistor makes is that any oscillation induced in the circuit will die away over time if
it not kept going by a source. This effect of the resistor is called damping. Some
resistance is unavoidable in real circuits, even if a resistor is not specifically included as a
component. A pure LC circuit is an ideal which really only exists in theory.

There are many applications for this circuit. They are used in many different types of
oscillator circuit. Another important application is for tuning, such as in radio receivers or
television sets, where they are used to select a narrow range of frequencies from the
ambient radio waves. In this role the circuit is often referred to as a tuned circuit. An
RLC circuit can be used as a band-pass filter or a band-stop filter. The tuning application,
for instance, is an example of band-pass filtering. The RLC filter is described as a

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second-order circuit, meaning that any voltage or current in the circuit can be described
by a second-order differential equation in circuit analysis.

The three circuit elements can be combined in a number of different topologies. All three
elements in series or all three elements in parallel are the simplest in concept and the
most straightforward to analyse. There are, however, other arrangements, some with
practical importance in real circuits. One issue often encountered is the need to take into
account inductor resistance. Inductors are typically constructed from coils of wire, the
resistance of which is not usually desirable, but it often has a significant effect on the
circuit.

Basic concepts
Resonance

WT
An important property of this circuit is its ability to resonate at a specific frequency, the
resonance frequency, . Frequencies are measured in units of hertz. Here, however,
angular frequency, , is used which is more mathematically convenient. This is
measured in radians per second. They are related to each other by a simple proportion,

Resonance occurs because energy is stored in two different ways: in an electric field as
the capacitor is charged and in a magnetic field as current flows through the inductor.
Energy can be transferred from one to the other within the circuit and this can be
oscillatory. A mechanical analogy is a weight suspended on a spring which will oscillate
up and down when released. This is no passing metaphor, a weight on a spring is
described by exactly the same second order differential equation as an RLC circuit and
for all the properties of the one system there will be found an analogous property of the
other. The mechanical property answering to the resistor in the circuit is friction in the
spring/weight system. Friction will slowly bring any oscillation to a halt if there is no
external force driving it. Likewise, the resistance in an RLC circuit will "damp" the
oscillation, diminishing it with time if there is no driving AC power source in the circuit.

The resonance frequency is defined as the frequency at which the impedance of the
circuit is at a minimum. Equivalently, it can be defined as the frequency at which the
impedance is purely real (that is, purely resistive). This occurs because the impedance
(reactance) of the inductor and capacitor at resonance are equal but of opposite sign and
cancel out. Circuits where L and C are in parallel rather than series actually have a
maximum impedance rather than a minimum impedance. For this reason they are often
described as antiresonators, it is still usual, however, to name the frequency at which this
occurs as the resonance frequency.

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Natural frequency

The resonance frequency is defined in terms of the impedance presented to a driving

source. It is still possible for the circuit to carry on oscillating (for a time) after the
driving source has been removed or it is subjected to a step in voltage (including a step
down to zero). This is similar to the way that a tuning fork will carry on ringing after it
has been struck, and the effect is often called ringing. This effect is the undriven natural
resonance frequency of the circuit and in general is not exactly the same as the driven
resonance frequency, although the two will usually be quite close to each other. Various
terms are used by different authors to distinguish the two, but resonance frequency
unqualified usually means the driven resonance frequency. The driven frequency may be
called the undamped resonance frequency or undamped natural frequency and the
undriven frequency may be called the damped resonance frequency or the damped natural
frequency. The reason for this terminology is that the driven resonance frequency in a

WT
series or parallel resonant circuit has the value

This is exactly the same as the resonance frequency of an LC circuit, that is, one with no
resistor present, that is, it is the same as a circuit in which there is no damping, hence
undamped resonance frequency. The undriven resonance frequency, on the other hand,
depends on the value of the resistor and hence is described as the damped resonance
frequency. A highly damped circuit will fail to resonate at all when undriven. A circuit
with a value of resistor that causes it to be just on the edge of ringing is called critically
damped. Either side of critically damped are described as underdamped (ringing happens)
and overdamped (ringing is suppressed).

Circuits with topologies more complex than straightforward series or parallel (some
examples described later) have a driven resonance frequency that deviates from
and for those the undamped resonance frequency, damped resonance frequency
and driven resonance frequency can all be different.

Damping

Damping is caused by the resistance in the circuit. It determines whether or not the circuit
will resonate naturally (that is, without a driving source). Circuits which will resonate in
this way are described as underdamped and those that will not are overdamped. Damping
attenuation (symbol α) is measured in nepers per second. However, the unitless damping
factor (symbol ζ) is often a more useful measure, which is related to α by

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The special case of ζ = 1 is called critical damping and represents the case of a circuit that
is just on the border of oscillation. It is the minimum damping that can be applied without
causing oscillation.

Bandwidth

The resonance effect can be used for filtering, the rapid change in impedance near
resonance can be used to pass or block signals close to the resonance frequency. Both
band-pass and band-stop filters can be constructed and some filter circuits are shown
later. A key parameter in filter design is bandwidth. The bandwidth is measured between
the 3dB-points, that is, the frequencies at which the power passed through the circuit has
fallen to half the value passed at resonance. There are two of these half-power
frequencies, one above, and one below the resonance frequency

WT
where is the bandwidth, is the lower half-power frequency and is the upper half-
power frequency. The bandwidth is related to attenuation by,

when the units are radians per second and nepers per second respectively. Other units
may require a conversion factor. A more general measure of bandwidth is the fractional
bandwidth, which expresses the bandwidth as a fraction of the resonance frequency and is
given by

The fractional bandwidth is also often stated as a percentage. The damping of filter
circuits is adjusted to result in the required bandwidth. A narrow band filter, such as a
notch filter, requires low damping. A wide band filter requires high damping.

Q factor

The Q factor is a widespread measure used to characterise resonators. It is defined as the

peak energy stored in the circuit divided by the average energy dissipated in it per cycle
at resonance. Low Q circuits are therefore damped and lossy and high Q circuits are
underdamped. Q is related to bandwidth; low Q circuits are wide band and high Q circuits
are narrow band. In fact, it happens that Q is the inverse of fractional bandwidth

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Q factor is directly proportional to selectivity, as Q factor depends inversely on
bandwidth.

Scaled parameters

The parameters ζ, Fb, and Q are all scaled to ω0. This means that circuits which have
similar parameters share similar characteristics regardless of whether or not they are
operating in the same frequency band.

Series RLC circuit

WT
Figure 1. RLC series circuit
V - the voltage of the
power source
I - the current in the
circuit
R - the resistance of the
resistor
L - the inductance of the
inductor
C - the capacitance of the
capacitor

In this circuit, the three components are all in series with the voltage source. The
governing differential equation can be found by substituting into Kirchhoff's voltage law
(KVL) the constitutive equation for each of the three elements. From KVL,

where are the voltages across R, L and C respectively and is the time
varying voltage from the source. Substituting in the constitutive equations,

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For the case where the source is an unchanging voltage, differentiating and dividing by L
leads to the second order differential equation:

This can usefully be expressed in a more generally applicable form:

and are both in units of angular frequency. is called the neper frequency, or
attenuation, and is a measure of how fast the transient response of the circuit will die
away after the stimulus has been removed. Neper occurs in the name because the units

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can also be considered to be nepers per second, neper being a unit of attenuation. is the
angular resonance frequency and is discussed later.

For the case of the series RLC circuit these two parameters are given by:

and

A useful parameter is the damping factor, ζ which is defined as the ratio of these two,

In the case of the series RLC circuit, the damping factor is given by,

The value of the damping factor determines the type of transient that the circuit will
exhibit. Some authors do not use and call the damping factor.

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Transient response

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Plot showing underdamped and overdamped responses of a series RLC circuit. The
critical damping plot is the bold red curve. The plots are normalised for L=1, C=1 and

The differential equation for the circuit solves in three different ways depending on the
value of . These are underdamped ( ), overdamped (
The differential equation has the characteristic equation,
) and critically damped ( ).

The roots of the equation in s are,

The general solution of the differential equation is an exponential in either root or a linear
superposition of both,

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The coefficients A1 and A2 are determined by the boundary conditions of the specific
problem being analysed. That is, they are set by the values of the currents and voltages in
the circuit at the onset of the transient and the presumed value they will settle to after
infinite time.

The overdamped response ( ) is,

The overdamped response is a decay of the transient current without oscillation.

The underdamped response ( ) is,

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By applying standard trigonometric identities the two trigonometric functions may be
expressed as a single sinusoid with phase shift,

The underdamped response is a decaying oscillation at frequency . The oscillation

decays at a rate determined by the attenuation . The exponential in describes the
envelope of the oscillation. B1 and B2 (or B3 and the phase shift in the second form) are
arbitrary constants determined by boundary conditions. The frequency is given by,

This is called the damped resonance frequency or the damped natural frequency. It is the
frequency the circuit will naturally oscillate at if not driven by an external source. The
resonance frequency, , which is the frequency at which the circuit will resonate when
driven by an external oscillation, may often be referred to as the undamped resonance
frequency to distinguish it.

The critically damped response ( ) is,

The critically damped response represents the circuit response that decays in the fastest
possible time without going into oscillation. This consideration is important in control
systems where it is required to reach the desired state as quickly as possible without
overshooting. D1 and D2 are arbitrary constants determined by boundary conditions.

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Laplace domain

The series RLC can be analyzed for both transient and steady AC state behavior using the
Laplace transform. If the voltage source above produces a waveform with Laplace-
transformed V(s) (where s is the complex frequency ), KVL can be applied
in the Laplace domain:

where I(s) is the Laplace-transformed current through all components. Solving for I(s):

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And rearranging, we have that

Laplace admittance

Solving for the Laplace admittance Y(s):

Simplifying using parameters α and ωo defined in the previous section, we have

Poles and zeros

The zeros of Y(s) are those values of s such that Y(s) = 0:

and

The poles of Y(s) are those values of s such that . By the quadratic formula,
we find

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The poles of Y(s) are identical to the roots s1 and s2 of the characteristic polynomial of the
differential equation in the section above.

General solution
For an arbitrary E(t), the solution obtained by inverse transform of I(s) is:

in the underdamped case (ω0 > α)

in the critically damped case (ω0 = α)

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in the overdamped case (ω0 < α)

where , and cosh and sinh are the usual hyperbolic functions.

Sinusoidal steady state

Figure 4. Sinusoidal steady-state analysis

normalised to R = 1 ohm, C = 1 farad, L = 1 henry, and V = 1.0 volt

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Sinusoidal steady state is represented by letting

Taking the magnitude of the above equation with this substitution:

and the current as a function of ω can be found from

Note that there is a peak at imag(ω) = 1. This is known as the resonance frequency.

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Solving for this value:

Parallel RLC circuit

Figure 5. RLC parallel circuit

V - the voltage of the
power source
I - the current in the
circuit
R - the resistance of the
resistor
L - the inductance of the
inductor
C - the capacitance of the
capacitor

The properties of the parallel RLC circuit can be obtained from the duality relationship of
electrical circuits and considering that the parallel RLC is the dual impedance of a series
RLC. From this consideration is immediately obtained the result that the differential
equations describing this circuit will be identical to the general form of those describing a
series RLC.

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For the parallel circuit, the attenuation α is given by

and the damping factor is consequently

This is the inverse of the expression for ζ in the series circuit. Likewise, the other scaled
parameters, fractional bandwidth and Q are also the inverse of each other. This means
that a wide band, low Q circuit in one topology will become a narrow band, high Q
circuit in the other topology when constructed from components with identical values.

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The Q and fractional bandwidth of the parallel circuit are given by

and

Frequency domain

Figure 6. Sinusoidal steady-state analysiss

normalised to R = 1 ohm, C = 1 farad, L = 1 henry, and V = 1.0 volt

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The complex admittance of this circuit is given by adding up the admittances of the
components:

The change from a series arrangement to a parallel arrangement results in the circuit
having a peak in impedance at resonance rather than a minimum, so the circuit is an
antiresonator.

The graph opposite shows that there is a minimum in the frequency response of the

current at the resonance frequency when the circuit is driven by a constant

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voltage. On the other hand, if driven by a constant current, there would be a maximum in
the voltage which would follow the same curve as the current in the series circuit.

Other configurations

Fig. 7. RLC parallel circuit with resistance in series with the inductor

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 WT
Fig. 8. RLC series circuit with resistance in parallel with the capacitor

A series resistor with the inductor in a parallel LC circuit as shown in figure 7 is a

topology commonly encountered where there is a need to take into account the resistance
of the coil winding. Parallel LC circuits are frequently used for bandpass filtering and the
Q is largely governed by this resistance. The resonant frequency of this circuit is,

This is the resonant frequency of the circuit defined as the frequency at which the
admittance has zero imaginary part. The frequency that appears in the generalised form of
the characteristic equation (which is the same for this circuit as previously)

is not the same frequency. In this case it is the undamped resonant frequency

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In the same vein, a resistor in parallel with the capacitor in a series LC circuit can be used
to represent a capacitor with a lossy dielectric. This configuration is shown in figure 8.
The resonant frequency in this case is given by

Applications
Variable tuned circuits

A very frequent use of these circuits is in the tuning circuits of analogue radios.
Adjustable tuning is commonly achieved with a parallel plate variable capacitor which
allows the value of C to be changed and tune to stations on different frequencies. For the

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IF stage in the radio where the tuning is preset in the factory the more usual solution is an
adjustable core in the inductor to adjust L. In this design the core (made of a high
permeability material that has the effect of increasing inductance) is threaded so that it
can be screwed further in, or screwed further out of the inductor winding as required.

Filters

Fig. 9. RLC circuit as a low-pass filter

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 WT Fig. 10. RLC circuit as a high-pass filter

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 WT
Fig. 11. RLC circuit as a series band-pass filter in series with the line

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 WT
Fig. 12. RLC circuit as a parallel band-pass filter in shunt across the line

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 WT
Fig. 13. RLC circuit as a series band-stop filter in shunt across the line

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 WT
Fig. 14. RLC circuit as a parallel band-stop filter in series with the line

In the filtering application, the resistor R becomes the load that the filter is working into.
The value of the damping factor is chosen based on the desired bandwidth of the filter.
For a wider bandwidth, a larger value of the damping factor is required (and vice versa).
The three components give the designer three degrees of freedom. Two of these are
required to set the bandwidth and resonant frequency. The designer is still left with one
which can be used to scale R, L and C to convenient practical values. Alternatively, R
may be predetermined by the external circuitry which will use the last degree of freedom.

Low-pass filter

An RLC circuit can be used as a low-pass filter. The circuit configuration is shown in
figure 9. The corner frequency, that is, the frequency of the 3dB point, is given by

This is also the bandwidth of the filter. The damping factor is given by

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High-pass filter

A high-pass filter is shown in figure 10. The corner frequency is the same as the low-pass
filter

The filter has a stop-band of this width.

Band-pass filter

A band-pass filter can be formed with an RLC circuit by either placing a series LC circuit
in series with the load resistor or else by placing a parallel LC circuit in parallel with the

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load resistor. These arrangements are shown in figures 11 and 12 respectively. The centre
frequency is given by

and the bandwidth for the series circuit is

The shunt version of the circuit is intended to be driven by a high impedance source, that
is, a constant current source. Under those conditions the bandwidth is

Band-stop filter

Figure 13 shows a band-stop filter formed by a series LC circuit in shunt across the load.
Figure 14 is a band-stop filter formed by a parallel LC circuit in series with the load. The
first case requires a high impedance source so that the current is diverted into the
resonator when it becomes low impedance at resonance. The second case requires a low
impedance source so that the voltage is dropped across the antiresonator when it becomes
high impedance at resonance.

Oscillators

For applications in oscillator circuits, it is generally desirable to make the attenuation (or
equivalently, the damping factor) as small as possible. In practice, this objective requires
making the circuit's resistance R as small as physically possible for a series circuit, or

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alternatively increasing R to as much as possible for a parallel circuit. In either case, the
RLC circuit becomes a good approximation to an ideal LC circuit. However, for very low
attenuation circuits (high Q-factor) circuits, issues such as dielectric losses of coils and
capacitors can become important.

In an oscillator circuit

or equivalently

As a result

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.

Voltage multiplier

In a series RLC circuit at resonance, the current is limited only by the resistance of the
circuit

If R is small, consisting only of the inductor winding resistance say, then this current will
be large. It will drop a voltage across the inductor of

An equal magnitude voltage will also be seen across the capacitor but in antiphase to the
inductor. If R can be made sufficiently small, these voltages can be several times the
input voltage. The voltage ratio is, in fact, the Q of the circuit,

A similar effect is observed with currents in the parallel circuit. Even though the circuit
appears as high impedance to the external source, there is a large current circulating in
the internal loop of the parallel inductor and capacitor.

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Pulse discharge circuit

An overdamped series RLC circuit can be used as a pulse discharge circuit. Often it is
useful to know the values of components that could be used to produce a waveform this is
described by the form:

I(t) = I0(e − αt − e − βt)

Such a circuit could consist of an energy storage capacitor, a load in the form of a
resistance, some circuit inductance and a switch - all in series. The initial conditions are
that the capacitor is at voltage V0 and there is no current flowing in the inductor. If the
inductance L is known, then the remaining parameters are given by the following -
Capacitance:

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Resistance (total of circuit and load):

R = L(α + β)

Initial terminal voltage of capacitor:

Rearranging for the case where R is known - Capacitance:

Inductance (total of circuit and load):

Initial terminal voltage of capacitor:

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Chapter-7

p-n Junction

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A silicon p–n junction with no applied voltage.

A p–n junction is formed by joining P-type and N-type semiconductors together in very
close contact. The term junction refers to the boundary interface where the two regions of
the semiconductor meet. If they were constructed of two separate pieces this would
introduce a grain boundary, so p–n junctions are created in a single crystal of
semiconductor by doping, for example by ion implantation, diffusion of dopants, or by
epitaxy (growing a layer of crystal doped with one type of dopant on top of a layer of
crystal doped with another type of dopant).

P-N junctions are elementary "building blocks" of almost all semiconductor electronic
devices such as diodes, transistors, solar cells, LEDs, and integrated circuits; they are the
active sites where the electronic action of the device takes place. For example, a common
type of transistor, the bipolar junction transistor, consists of two p–n junctions in series,
in the form n–p–n or p–n–p.

The discovery of the p–n junction is usually attributed to American physicist Russell Ohl
of Bell Laboratories.

Schottky junction is a special case of a p-n junction, where metal serves the role of the n-
type semiconductor.

Manufacture
Normally, p–n junctions are manufactured from a single crystal with different dopant
concentrations diffused across it. Creating a semiconductor from two separate pieces of

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material would introduce a grain boundary between the semiconductors which severely
inhibits its utility by scattering the electrons and holes..

Note that, in the case of solar cells, polycrystalline silicon is often used to reduce
expense, despite the lower efficiency caused by the grain boundaries. These boundaries
are not related to the p-n junctions in the cell. If they would be the same spacially, the
disturbing effects would make the solar cell useless.

Properties of a p-n junction

The p–n junction possesses some interesting properties which have useful applications in
modern electronics. A p-doped semiconductor is relatively conductive. The same is true
of an n-doped semiconductor, but the junction between them can become depleted of
charge carriers, and hence nonconductive, depending on the relative voltages of the two

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semiconductor regions. By manipulating this non-conductive layer, p–n junctions are
commonly used as diodes: circuit elements that allow a flow of electricity in one
direction but not in the other (opposite) direction. This property is explained in terms of
forward bias and reverse bias, where the term bias refers to an application of electric
voltage to the p–n junction.

Equilibrium (zero bias)

In a p–n junction, without an external applied voltage, an equilibrium condition is
reached in which a potential difference is formed across the junction. This potential
difference is called built-in potential Vbi.

After joining p-type and n-type semiconductors, electrons near the p–n interface tend to
diffuse into the p region. As electrons diffuse, they leave positively charged ions (donors)
in the n region. Similarly, holes near the p–n interface begin to diffuse into the n-type
region leaving fixed ions (acceptors) with negative charge. The regions nearby the p–n
interfaces lose their neutrality and become charged, forming the space charge region or
depletion layer (see figure A).

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holes.

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Figure A. A p–n junction in thermal equilibrium with zero bias voltage applied.
Electrons and holes concentration are reported respectively with blue and red lines. Gray
regions are charge neutral. Light red zone is positively charged. Light blue zone is
negatively charged. The electric field is shown on the bottom, the electrostatic force on
electrons and holes and the direction in which the diffusion tends to move electrons and

The electric field created by the space charge region opposes the diffusion process for
both electrons and holes. There are two concurrent phenomena: the diffusion process that
tends to generate more space charge, and the electric field generated by the space charge
that tends to counteract the diffusion. The carrier concentration profile at equilibrium is
shown in figure A with blue and red lines. Also shown are the two counterbalancing
phenomena that establish equilibrium.

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 WT
Figure B. A p–n junction in thermal equilibrium with zero bias voltage applied. Under
the junction, plots for the charge density, the electric field and the voltage are reported.

The space charge region is a zone with a net charge provided by the fixed ions (donors or
acceptors) that have been left uncovered by majority carrier diffusion. When equilibrium
is reached, the charge density is approximated by the displayed step function. In fact, the
region is completely depleted of majority carriers (leaving a charge density equal to the
net doping level), and the edge between the space charge region and the neutral region is
quite sharp (see figure B, Q(x) graph). The space charge region has the same magnitude
of charge on both sides of the p–n interfaces, thus it extends farther on the less doped side
(the n side in figures A and B).

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Forward bias
In forward bias, the p-type is connected with the positive terminal and the n-type is
connected with the negative terminal.

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PN junction operation in forward bias mode showing reducing depletion width. Both p
and n junctions are doped at a 1e15/cm3 doping level, leading to built-in potential of
~0.59V. Reducing depletion width can be inferred from the shrinking charge profile, as
fewer dopants are exposed with increasing forward bias.

With a battery connected this way, the holes in the P-type region and the electrons in the
N-type region are pushed towards the junction. This reduces the width of the depletion
zone. The positive charge applied to the P-type material repels the holes, while the
negative charge applied to the N-type material repels the electrons. As electrons and
holes are pushed towards the junction, the distance between them decreases. This lowers
the barrier in potential. With increasing forward-bias voltage, the depletion zone
eventually becomes thin enough that the zone's electric field can't counteract charge
carrier motion across the p–n junction, consequently reducing electrical resistance. The
electrons which cross the p–n junction into the P-type material (or holes which cross into
the N-type material) will diffuse in the near-neutral region. Therefore, the amount of
minority diffusion in the near-neutral zones determines the amount of current that may
flow through the diode.

Only majority carriers (electrons in N-type material or holes in P-type) can flow through
a semiconductor for a macroscopic length. With this in mind, consider the flow of
electrons across the junction. The forward bias causes a force on the electrons pushing
them from the N side toward the P side. With forward bias, the depletion region is narrow
enough that electrons can cross the junction and inject into the P-type material. However,
they do not continue to flow through the P-type material indefinitely, because it is
energetically favorable for them to recombine with holes. The average length an electron

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travels through the P-type material before recombining is called the diffusion length, and
it is typically on the order of microns.

Although the electrons penetrate only a short distance into the P-type material, the
electric current continues uninterrupted, because holes (the majority carriers) begin to
flow in the opposite direction. The total current (the sum of the electron and hole
currents) is constant in space, because any variation would cause charge buildup over
time (this is Kirchhoff's current law). The flow of holes from the P-type region into the
N-type region is exactly analogous to the flow of electrons from N to P (electrons and
holes swap roles and the signs of all currents and voltages are reversed).

Therefore, the macroscopic picture of the current flow through the diode involves
electrons flowing through the N-type region toward the junction, holes flowing through
the P-type region in the opposite direction toward the junction, and the two species of
carriers constantly recombining in the vicinity of the junction. The electrons and holes

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travel in opposite directions, but they also have opposite charges, so the overall current is
in the same direction on both sides of the diode, as required.

The Shockley diode equation models the forward-bias operational characteristics of a p–n
junction outside the avalanche (reverse-biased conducting) region.

Reverse bias

A silicon p–n junction in reverse bias.

Reverse biased usually refers to how a diode is used in a circuit. If a diode is reverse
biased, the voltage at the cathode is higher than that at the anode. Therefore, no current
will flow until the diode breaks down. Connecting the P-type region to the negative
terminal of the battery and the N-type region to the positive terminal, corresponds to
reverse bias. The connections are illustrated in the following diagram:

Because the p-type material is now connected to the negative terminal of the power
supply, the 'holes' in the P-type material are pulled away from the junction, causing the
width of the depletion zone to increase. Similarly, because the N-type region is connected
to the positive terminal, the electrons will also be pulled away from the junction.
Therefore the depletion region widens, and does so increasingly with increasing reverse-
bias voltage. This increases the voltage barrier causing a high resistance to the flow of
charge carriers thus allowing minimal electric current to cross the p–n junction. The
increase in resistance of the p-n junction results in the junction behaving as an insulator.

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The strength of the depletion zone electric field increases as the reverse-bias voltage
increases. Once the electric field intensity increases beyond a critical level, the p–n
junction depletion zone breaks-down and current begins to flow, usually by either the
Zener or avalanche breakdown processes. Both of these breakdown processes are non-
destructive and are reversible, so long as the amount of current flowing does not reach
levels that cause the semiconductor material to overheat and cause thermal damage.

This effect is used to one's advantage in zener diode regulator circuits. Zener diodes have
a certain - low - breakdown voltage. A standard value for breakdown voltage is for
instance 5.6V. This means that the voltage at the cathode can never be more than 5.6V
higher than the voltage at the anode, because the diode will break down - and therefore
conduct - if the voltage gets any higher. This effectively regulates the voltage over the
diode.

Another application where reverse biased diodes are used is in Varicap diodes. The width

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of the depletion zone of any diode changes with voltage applied. This varies the
capacitance of the diode. For more information, refer to the Varicap article.

Electrostatics
For a p-n junction Poisson's equation becomes

where is the electric potential, ρ is the charge density, is permittivity and q is the
magnitude of the electron charge.

Since the total charge on either side of the depletion region must cancel out it is

From the above equations and by deploying basic calculus it can be shown that the total
width of the depletion region is

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Furthermore, by implementing the Einstein relation and assuming the semiconductor is
nondegenerate (i.e. the product p0n0 is independent of the Fermi energy) it follows that

where T is the temperature of the semiconductor and k is Boltzmann constant.

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Summary

The forward-bias and the reverse-bias properties of the p–n junction imply that it can be
used as a diode. A p–n junction diode allows electric charges to flow in one direction, but
not in the opposite direction; negative charges (electrons) can easily flow through the
junction from n to p but not from p to n and the reverse is true for holes. When the p–n
junction is forward biased, electric charge flows freely due to reduced resistance of the p–
n junction. When the p–n junction is reverse biased, however, the junction barrier (and
therefore resistance) becomes greater and charge flow is minimal.

Non-rectifying junctions
In the above diagrams, contact between the metal wires and the semiconductor material
also creates metal-semiconductor junctions called Schottky diodes. In a simplified ideal
situation a semiconductor diode would never function, since it would be composed of
several diodes connected back-to-front in series. But in practice, surface impurities within
the part of the semiconductor which touches the metal terminals will greatly reduce the
width of those depletion layers to such an extent that the metal-semiconductor junctions
do not act as diodes. These "nonrectifying junctions" behave as ohmic contacts regardless
of applied voltage polarity.

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Chapter-8

Electronic Engineering

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Electronic components

Electronics engineering, also referred to as electronic engineering, is an engineering

discipline where non-linear and active electrical components such as electron tubes, and
semiconductor devices, especially transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, are utilized
to design electronic circuits, devices and systems, typically also including passive
electrical components and based on printed circuit boards. The term denotes a broad
engineering field that covers important subfields such as analog electronics, digital
electronics, consumer electronics, embedded systems and power electronics. Electronics
engineering deals with implementation of applications, principles and algorithms

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developed within many related fields, for example solid-state physics, radio engineering,
telecommunications, control systems, signal processing, systems engineering, computer
engineering, instrumentation engineering, electric power control, robotics, and many
others.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is one of the most important
and influential organizations for electronics engineers.

Relationship to electrical engineering

Electronics is a subfield within the wider electrical engineering academic subject. An
academic degree with a major in electronics engineering can be acquired from some
universities, while other universitites use electrical engineering as the subject. The term
electrical engineer is still used in the academic world to include electronic engineers.

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However, some people think the term 'electrical engineer' should be reserved for those
having specialized in power and heavy current or high voltage engineering, while others
believe that power is just one subset of electrical engineering (and indeed the term 'power
engineering' is used in that industry) as well as 'electrical distribution engineering'. Again,
in recent years there has been a growth of new separate-entry degree courses such as
'information engineering', 'systems engineering' and 'communication systems
engineering', often followed by academic departments of similar name, which are
typically not considered as subfields of electronics engineering but of electrical
engineering.

Beginning in the 1980s, the term computer engineer was often used to refer to a subifeld
of electronic or information engineers. However, Computer Engineering is now
considered a subset of Electronics Engineering and computer science and the term is now
becoming archaic.

History of electronic engineering

Electronic engineering as a profession sprang from technological improvements in the
telegraph industry in the late 19th century and the radio and the telephone industries in
the early 20th century. People were attracted to radio by the technical fascination it
inspired, first in receiving and then in transmitting. Many who went into broadcasting in
the 1920s were only 'amateurs' in the period before World War I.

The modern discipline of electronic engineering was to a large extent born out of
telephone, radio, and television equipment development and the large amount of
electronic systems development during World War II of radar, sonar, communication
systems, and advanced munitions and weapon systems. In the interwar years, the subject
was known as radio engineering and it was only in the late 1950s that the term electronic
engineering started to emerge.

The electronic laboratories (Bell Labs in the United States for instance) created and
subsidized by large corporations in the industries of radio, television, and telephone

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equipment began churning out a series of electronic advances. In 1948, came the
transistor and in 1960, the integrated circuit to revolutionize the electronic industry. In
the UK, the subject of electronic engineering became distinct from electrical engineering
as a university degree subject around 1960. Before this time, students of electronics and
related subjects like radio and telecommunications had to enroll in the electrical
engineering department of the university as no university had departments of electronics.
Electrical engineering was the nearest subject with which electronic engineering could be
aligned, although the similarities in subjects covered (except mathematics and
electromagnetism) lasted only for the first year of the three-year course.

Early electronics

In 1893, Nikola Tesla made the first public demonstration of radio communication.
Addressing the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the National Electric Light

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Association, he described and demonstrated in detail the principles of radio
communication. In 1896, Guglielmo Marconi went on to develop a practical and widely
used radio system. In 1904, John Ambrose Fleming, the first professor of electrical
Engineering at University College London, invented the first radio tube, the diode. One
year later, in 1906, Robert von Lieben and Lee De Forest independently developed the
amplifier tube, called the triode.

Electronics is often considered to have begun when Lee De Forest invented the vacuum
tube in 1907. Within 10 years, his device was used in radio transmitters and receivers as
well as systems for long distance telephone calls. In 1912, Edwin H. Armstrong invented
the regenerative feedback amplifier and oscillator; he also invented the superheterodyne
radio receiver and could be considered the father of modern radio. Vacuum tubes
remained the preferred amplifying device for 40 years, until researchers working for
William Shockley at Bell Labs invented the transistor in 1947. In the following years,
transistors made small portable radios, or transistor radios, possible as well as allowing
more powerful mainframe computers to be built. Transistors were smaller and required
lower voltages than vacuum tubes to work.

Before the invention of the integrated circuit in 1959, electronic circuits were constructed
from discrete components that could be manipulated by hand. These non-integrated
circuits consumed much space and power, were prone to failure and were limited in
speed although they are still common in simple applications. By contrast, integrated
circuits packed a large number — often millions — of tiny electrical components, mainly
transistors, into a small chip around the size of a coin.

Tubes or valves

The vacuum tube detector

The invention of the triode amplifier, generator, and detector made audio communication
by radio practical. (Reginald Fessenden's 1906 transmissions used an electro-mechanical
alternator.) The first known radio news program was broadcast 31 August 1920 by station

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8MK, the unlicensed predecessor of WWJ (AM) in Detroit, Michigan. Regular wireless
broadcasts for entertainment commenced in 1922 from the Marconi Research Centre at
Writtle near Chelmsford, England.

While some early radios used some type of amplification through electric current or
battery, through the mid 1920s the most common type of receiver was the crystal set. In
the 1920s, amplifying vacuum tubes revolutionized both radio receivers and transmitters.

Television

In 1928 Philo Farnsworth made the first public demonstration of a purely electronic
television. During the 1930s several countries began broadcasting, and after World War
II it spread to millions of receivers, eventually worldwide. Ever since then, electronics
have been fully present in television devices.

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Modern televisions and video displays have evolved from bulky electron tube technology
to use more compact devices, such as plasma and LCD displays. The trend is for even
lower power devices such as the organic light-emitting diode displays, and it is most
likely to replace the LCD and plasma technologies.

Radar and radio location

During World War II many efforts were expended in the electronic location of enemy
targets and aircraft. These included radio beam guidance of bombers, electronic counter
measures, early radar systems etc. During this time very little if any effort was expended
on consumer electronics developments.

Computers

A computer is a programmable machine that receives input, stores and manipulates data,
and provides output in a useful format.

Although mechanical examples of computers have existed through much of recorded

human history, the first electronic computers were developed in the mid-20th century
(1940–1945). These were the size of a large room, consuming as much power as several
hundred modern personal computers (PCs). Modern computers based on integrated
circuits are millions to billions of times more capable than the early machines, and
occupy a fraction of the space. Simple computers are small enough to fit into small
pocket devices, and can be powered by a small battery. Personal computers in their
various forms are icons of the Information Age and are what most people think of as
"computers". However, the embedded computers found in many devices from MP3
players to fighter aircraft and from toys to industrial robots are the most numerous.

The ability to store and execute lists of instructions called programs makes computers
extremely versatile, distinguishing them from calculators. The Church–Turing thesis is a
mathematical statement of this versatility: any computer with a certain minimum

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capability is, in principle, capable of performing the same tasks that any other computer
can perform. Therefore computers ranging from a netbook to a supercomputer are all able
to perform the same computational tasks, given enough time and storage capacity.

Microprocessors

In 1969, Ted Hoff conceived the commercial microprocessor at Intel and thus ignited the
development of the personal computer. Hoff's invention was part of an order by a
Japanese company for a desktop programmable electronic calculator, which Hoff wanted
to build as cheaply as possible. The first realization of the microprocessor was the Intel
4004, a 4-bit processor, in 1969, but only in 1973 did the Intel 8080, an 8-bit processor,
make the building of the first personal computer, the MITS Altair 8800, possible. The
first PC was announced to the general public on the cover of the January 1975 issue of
Popular Electronics.

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Many electronics engineers today specialize in the development of programs for
microprocessor based electronic systems, known as embedded systems. Due to the
detailed knowledge of the hardware that is required for doing this, it is normally done by
electronics engineers and not software engineers. Software engineers typically know and
use microprocessors only at a conceptual level. Electronics engineers who exclusively
carry out the role of programming embedded systems or microprocessors are referred to
as "embedded systems engineers", or "firmware engineers".

Electronics
In the field of electronic engineering, engineers design and test circuits that use the
electromagnetic properties of electrical components such as resistors, capacitors,
inductors, diodes and transistors to achieve a particular functionality. The tuner circuit,
which allows the user of a radio to filter out all but a single station, is just one example of
such a circuit.

In designing an integrated circuit, electronics engineers first construct circuit schematics

that specify the electrical components and describe the interconnections between them.
When completed, VLSI engineers convert the schematics into actual layouts, which map
the layers of various conductor and semiconductor materials needed to construct the
circuit. The conversion from schematics to layouts can be done by software but very
often requires human fine-tuning to decrease space and power consumption. Once the
layout is complete, it can be sent to a fabrication plant for manufacturing.

Integrated circuits and other electrical components can then be assembled on printed
circuit boards to form more complicated circuits. Today, printed circuit boards are found
in most electronic devices including televisions, computers and audio players.

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Typical electronic engineering undergraduate syllabus
Apart from electromagnetics and network theory, other items in the syllabus are
particular to electronics engineering course. Electrical engineering courses have other
specialisms such as machines, power generation and distribution. Note that the following
list does not include the extensive engineering mathematics curriculum that is a
prerequisite to a degree.

Electromagnetics

Elements of vector calculus: divergence and curl; Gauss' and Stokes' theorems, Maxwell's
equations: differential and integral forms. Wave equation, Poynting vector. Plane waves:
propagation through various media; reflection and refraction; phase and group velocity;
skin depth. Transmission lines: characteristic impedance; impedance transformation;

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Smith chart; impedance matching; pulse excitation. Waveguides: modes in rectangular
waveguides; boundary conditions; cut-off frequencies; dispersion relations. Antennas:
Dipole antennas; antenna arrays; radiation pattern; reciprocity theorem, antenna gain.

Network analysis

Network graphs: matrices associated with graphs; incidence, fundamental cut set and
fundamental circuit matrices. Solution methods: nodal and mesh analysis. Network
theorems: superposition, Thevenin and Norton's maximum power transfer, Wye-Delta
transformation. Steady state sinusoidal analysis using phasors. Linear constant coefficient
differential equations; time domain analysis of simple RLC circuits, Solution of network
equations using Laplace transform: frequency domain analysis of RLC circuits. 2-port
network parameters: driving point and transfer functions. State equations for networks.

Electronic devices and circuits

Electronic devices: Energy bands in silicon, intrinsic and extrinsic silicon. Carrier
transport in silicon: diffusion current, drift current, mobility, resistivity. Generation and
recombination of carriers. p-n junction diode, Zener diode, tunnel diode, BJT, JFET,
MOS capacitor, MOSFET, LED, p-i-n and avalanche photo diode, LASERs. Device
technology: integrated circuit fabrication process, oxidation, diffusion, ion implantation,
photolithography, n-tub, p-tub and twin-tub CMOS process.

Analog circuits: Equivalent circuits (large and small-signal) of diodes, BJTs, JFETs, and
MOSFETs. Simple diode circuits, clipping, clamping, rectifier. Biasing and bias stability
of transistor and FET amplifiers. Amplifiers: single-and multi-stage, differential,
operational, feedback and power. Analysis of amplifiers; frequency response of
amplifiers. Simple op-amp circuits. Filters. Sinusoidal oscillators; criterion for
oscillation; single-transistor and op-amp configurations. Function generators and wave-
shaping circuits, Power supplies.

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Digital circuits: of Boolean functions; logic gates digital IC families (DTL, TTL, ECL,
MOS, CMOS). Combinational circuits: arithmetic circuits, code converters, multiplexers
and decoders. Sequential circuits: latches and flip-flops, counters and shift-registers.
Sample and hold circuits, ADCs, DACs. Semiconductor memories. Microprocessor 8086:
architecture, programming, memory and I/O interfacing.

Signals and systems

Definitions and properties of Laplace transform, continuous-time and discrete-time

Fourier series, continuous-time and discrete-time Fourier Transform, z-transform.
Sampling theorems. Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) Systems: definitions and properties;
causality, stability, impulse response, convolution, poles and zeros frequency response,
group delay, phase delay. Signal transmission through LTI systems. Random signals and
noise: probability, random variables, probability density function, autocorrelation, power

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spectral density, function analogy between vectors & functions.

Control systems

Basic control system components; block diagrammatic description, reduction of block

diagrams — Mason's rule. Open loop and closed loop (negative unity feedback) systems
and stability analysis of these systems. Signal flow graphs and their use in determining
transfer functions of systems; transient and steady state analysis of LTI control systems
and frequency response. Analysis of steady-state disturbance rejection and noise
sensitivity.

Tools and techniques for LTI control system analysis and design: root loci, Routh-
Hurwitz stability criterion, Bode and Nyquist plots. Control system compensators:
elements of lead and lag compensation, elements of Proportional-Integral-Derivative
controller (PID). Discretization of continuous time systems using Zero-order hold (ZOH)
and ADCs for digital controller implementation. Limitations of digital controllers:
aliasing. State variable representation and solution of state equation of LTI control
systems. Linearization of Nonlinear dynamical systems with state-space realizations in
both frequency and time domains. Fundamental concepts of controllability and
observability for MIMO LTI systems. State space realizations: observable and
controllable canonical form. Ackermann's formula for state-feedback pole placement.
Design of full order and reduced order estimators.

Communications

Analog communication systems: amplitude and angle modulation and demodulation

systems, spectral analysis of these operations, superheterodyne noise conditions.

Digital communication systems: pulse code modulation (PCM), Differential Pulse Code
Modulation (DPCM), Delta modulation (DM), digital modulation schemes-amplitude,
phase and frequency shift keying schemes (ASK, PSK, FSK), matched filter receivers,

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bandwidth consideration and probability of error calculations for these schemes, GSM,
TDMA.

Education and training

Electronics engineers typically possess an academic degree with a major in electronic
engineering. The length of study for such a degree is usually three or four years and the
completed degree may be designated as a Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Science,
Bachelor of Applied Science, or Bachelor of Technology depending upon the university.
Many UK universities also offer Master of Engineering (MEng) degrees at undergraduate
level.

The degree generally includes units covering physics, chemistry, mathematics, project
management and specific topics in electrical engineering. Initially such topics cover

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most, if not all, of the subfields of electronic engineering. Students then choose to
specialize in one or more subfields towards the end of the degree.

Some electronics engineers also choose to pursue a postgraduate degree such as a Master
of Science (MSc), Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering (PhD), or an Engineering
Doctorate (EngD). The Master degree is being introduced in some European and
American Universities as a first degree and the differentiation of an engineer with
graduate and postgraduate studies is often difficult. In these cases, experience is taken
into account. The Master's degree may consist of either research, coursework or a mixture
of the two. The Doctor of Philosophy consists of a significant research component and is
often viewed as the entry point to academia.

In most countries, a Bachelor's degree in engineering represents the first step towards
certification and the degree program itself is certified by a professional body. After
completing a certified degree program the engineer must satisfy a range of requirements
(including work experience requirements) before being certified. Once certified the
engineer is designated the title of Professional Engineer (in the United States, Canada and
South Africa), Chartered Engineer or Incorporated Engineer (in the United Kingdom,
Ireland, India and Zimbabwe), Chartered Professional Engineer (in Australia) or
European Engineer (in much of the European Union).

Fundamental to the discipline are the sciences of physics and mathematics as these help
to obtain both a qualitative and quantitative description of how such systems will work.
Today most engineering work involves the use of computers and it is commonplace to
use computer-aided design and simulation software programs when designing electronic
systems. Although most electronic engineers will understand basic circuit theory, the
theories employed by engineers generally depend upon the work they do. For example,
quantum mechanics and solid state physics might be relevant to an engineer working on
VLSI but are largely irrelevant to engineers working with macroscopic electrical systems.

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Professional bodies
Professional bodies of note for electrical engineers include the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) (now
renamed the Institution of Engineering and Technology or IET). The IEEE claims to
produce 30 percent of the world's literature in electrical/electronic engineering, has over
370,000 members, and holds more than 450 IEEE sponsored or cosponsored conferences
worldwide each year.

Subfields

Electronic engineering has many subfields. Here we, describes some of the most popular
subfields in electronic engineering; although there are engineers who focus exclusively
on one subfield, there are also many who focus on a combination of subfields.

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Overview of electronic engineering

Electronic engineering involves the design and testing of electronic circuits that use the
electronic properties of components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes and
transistors to achieve a particular functionality.

Signal processing deals with the analysis and manipulation of signals. Signals can be
either analog, in which case the signal varies continuously according to the information,
or digital, in which case the signal varies according to a series of discrete values
representing the information.

For analog signals, signal processing may involve the amplification and filtering of audio
signals for audio equipment or the modulation and demodulation of signals for
telecommunications. For digital signals, signal processing may involve the compression,
error checking and error detection of digital signals.

Telecommunications engineering deals with the transmission of information across a

channel such as a co-axial cable, optical fiber or free space.

Transmissions across free space require information to be encoded in a carrier wave in

order to shift the information to a carrier frequency suitable for transmission, this is
known as modulation. Popular analog modulation techniques include amplitude
modulation and frequency modulation. The choice of modulation affects the cost and
performance of a system and these two factors must be balanced carefully by the
engineer.

Once the transmission characteristics of a system are determined, telecommunication

engineers design the transmitters and receivers needed for such systems. These two are
sometimes combined to form a two-way communication device known as a transceiver.
A key consideration in the design of transmitters is their power consumption as this is

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closely related to their signal strength. If the signal strength of a transmitter is insufficient
the signal's information will be corrupted by noise.

Control engineering has a wide range of applications from the flight and propulsion
systems of commercial airplanes to the cruise control present in many modern cars. It
also plays an important role in industrial automation.

Control engineers often utilize feedback when designing control systems. For example, in
a car with cruise control the vehicle's speed is continuously monitored and fed back to the
system which adjusts the engine's power output accordingly. Where there is regular
feedback, control theory can be used to determine how the system responds to such
feedback.

Instrumentation engineering deals with the design of devices to measure physical

quantities such as pressure, flow and temperature. These devices are known as instru-

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mentation.

The design of such instrumentation requires a good understanding of physics that often
extends beyond electromagnetic theory. For example, radar guns use the Doppler effect
to measure the speed of oncoming vehicles. Similarly, thermocouples use the Peltier-
Seebeck effect to measure the temperature difference between two points.

Often instrumentation is not used by itself, but instead as the sensors of larger electrical
systems. For example, a thermocouple might be used to help ensure a furnace's
temperature remains constant. For this reason, instrumentation engineering is often
viewed as the counterpart of control engineering.

Computer engineering deals with the design of computers and computer systems. This
may involve the design of new hardware, the design of PDAs or the use of computers to
control an industrial plant. Computer engineers may also work on a system's software.
However, the design of complex software systems is often the domain of software
engineering, which is usually considered a separate discipline.

Desktop computers represent a tiny fraction of the devices a computer engineer might
work on, as computer-like architectures are now found in a range of devices including
video game consoles and DVD players.

Project engineering

For most engineers not involved at the cutting edge of system design and development,
technical work accounts for only a fraction of the work they do. A lot of time is also
spent on tasks such as discussing proposals with clients, preparing budgets and
determining project schedules. Many senior engineers manage a team of technicians or
other engineers and for this reason project management skills are important. Most
engineering projects involve some form of documentation and strong written
communication skills are therefore very important.

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The workplaces of electronics engineers are just as varied as the types of work they do.
Electronics engineers may be found in the pristine laboratory environment of a
fabrication plant, the offices of a consulting firm or in a research laboratory. During their
working life, electronics engineers may find themselves supervising a wide range of
individuals including scientists, electricians, computer programmers and other engineers.

Obsolescence of technical skills is a serious concern for electronics engineers.

Membership and participation in technical societies, regular reviews of periodicals in the
field and a habit of continued learning are therefore essential to maintaining proficiency.
And these are mostly used in the field of consumer electronics products.

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Chapter-9

Flip-flop

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A traditional flip-flop circuit based on bipolar junction transistors

In electronics, a flip-flop is a circuit that has two stable states and can be used to store
state information. The circuit can be made to change state by signals applied to one or
more control inputs and will have one or two outputs. A circuit incorporating flip-flops
has the attribute of state; its output depends not only on its current input, but also on its
previous inputs. Such a circuit is described as sequential logic. Where a single input is
provided, the circuit changes state every time a pulse appears on the input signal. Since
the flip-flop retains the state after the signal pulses are removed, one type of flip-flop
circuit is also called a "latch". Other types of flip-flops may have inputs that set a
particular state, set the opposite state, or change states, depending on which input is
pulsed.

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Flip-flops are used as data storage elements, for counting of pulses, and for synchronizing
randomly-timed input signals to some reference timing signal. Flip-flops are a
fundamental building block of digital electronics systems used in computers,
communications, and many other types of systems.

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Flip-flop schematics from the Eccles and Jordan patent filed 1918, one drawn as a
cascade of amplifiers with a positive feedback path, and the other as a symmetric cross-
coupled pair

History
The first electronic flip-flop was invented in 1918 by William Eccles and F. W. Jordan. It
was initially called the Eccles–Jordan trigger circuit and consisted of two active
elements (vacuum tubes). Such circuits and their transistorized versions were common in

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computers even after the introduction of integrated circuits, though flip-flops made from
logic gates are also common now.

Early flip-flops were known variously as trigger circuits or multivibrators. A

multivibrator is a two-state circuit; they come in several varieties, based on whether each
state is stable or not: an astable multivibrator is not stable in either state, so it acts as a
relaxation oscillator; a monostable multivibrator makes a pulse while in the unstable
state, then returns to the stable state, and is known as a one-shot; a bistable multivibrator
has two stable states, and this is the one usually known as a flip-flop. However, this
terminology has been somewhat variable, historically. For example:

• 1942 – multivibrator implies astable: "The multivibrator circuit (Fig. 7-6) is

somewhat similar to the flip-flop circuit, but the coupling from the anode of one
valve to the grid of the other is by a condenser only, so that the coupling is not
maintained in the steady state."

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• 1942 – multivibrator as a particular flip-flop circuit: "Such circuits were known as
'trigger' or 'flip-flop' circuits and were of very great importance. The earliest and
best known of these circuits was the multivibrator."
• 1943 – flip-flop as one-shot pulse generator: "It should be noted that an essential
difference between the two-valve flip-flop and the multivibrator is that the flip-
flop has one of the valves biased to cutoff."
• 1949 – monostable as flip-flop: "Monostable multivibrators have also been called
'flip-flops'."
• 1949 – monostable as flip-flop: "... a flip-flop is a monostable multivibrator and
the ordinary multivibrator is an astable multivibrator."

According to P. L. Lindley, a JPL engineer, the flip-flop types discussed below (RS, D,
T, JK) were first discussed in a 1954 UCLA course on computer design by Montgomery
Phister, and then appeared in his book Logical Design of Digital Computers. Lindley was
at the time working at Hughes Aircraft under Dr. Eldred Nelson, who had coined the term
JK for a flip-flop which changed states when both inputs were on. The other names were
coined by Phister. They differ slightly from some of the definitions given below. Lindley
explains that he heard the story of the JK flip-flop from Dr. Eldred Nelson, who is
responsible for coining the term while working at Hughes Aircraft. Flip-flops in use at
Hughes at the time were all of the type that came to be known as J-K. In designing a
logical system, Dr. Nelson assigned letters to flip-flop inputs as follows: #1: A & B, #2:
C & D, #3: E & F, #4: G & H, #5: J & K.

Implementation
Flip-flops can be either simple (transparent) or clocked; the transparent ones are
commonly called latches.

The word latch is mainly used for storage elements, while clocked devices are described
as flip-flops.

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Simple flip-flops can be built around a pair of cross-coupled inverting elements: vacuum
tubes, bipolar transistors, field effect transistors, inverters, and inverting logic gates have
all been used in practical circuits. Clocked devices are specially designed for
synchronous systems; such devices ignore their inputs except at the transition of a
dedicated clock signal (known as clocking, pulsing, or strobing). Clocking causes the
flip-flop to either change or retain its output signal based upon the values of the input
signals at the transition. Some flip-flops change output on the rising edge of the clock,
others on the falling edge.

Since the elementary amplifying stages are inverting, two stages can be connected in
succession (as a cascade) to form the needed non-inverting amplifier. In this confi-
guration, each amplifier may be considered as an active inverting feedback network for
the other inverting amplifier. Thus the two stages are connected in a non-inverting loop
although the circuit diagram is usually drawn as a symmetric cross-coupled pair (both the
drawings are initially introduced in the Eccles–Jordan patent).

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Flip-flop types
Flip-flops can be divided into common types: the RS ("set-reset"), D ("data" or "delay"),
T ("toggle"), and JK types are the common ones. The behavior of a particular type can be
described by what is termed the characteristic equation, which derives the "next" (i.e.,
after the next clock pulse) output, Qnext, in terms of the input signal(s) and/or the current
output, Q.

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Simple set-reset latches

SR NOR latch

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An RS latch, constructed from a pair of cross-coupled NOR gates. Red and black mean
logical '1' and '0', respectively.

When using static gates as building blocks, the most fundamental latch is the simple SR
latch, where S and R stand for set and reset. It can be constructed from a pair of cross-
coupled NOR logic gates. The stored bit is present on the output marked Q.

While the S and R inputs are both low, feedback maintains the Q and Q outputs in a
constant state, with Q the complement of Q. If S (Set) is pulsed high while R (Reset) is
held low, then the Q output is forced high, and stays high when S returns to low;
similarly, if R is pulsed high while S is held low, then the Q output is forced low, and
stays low when R returns to low.

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 SR latch operation
SR Action
00 No Change
01 Q=0
10 Q=1
1 1 Restricted combination

The symbol for an SR NOR latch

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The R = S = 1 combination is called a restricted combination or a forbidden state
because, as both NOR gates then output zeros, it breaks the logical equation Q = not Q.
The combination is also inappropriate in circuits where both inputs may go low
simultaneously (i.e. a transition from restricted to keep). The output would lock at either
1 or 0 depending on the propagation time relations between the gates (a race condition).
In certain implementations, it could also lead to longer ringings (damped oscillations)
before the output settles, and thereby result in undetermined values (errors) in high-
frequency digital circuits. Although this condition is usually avoided, it can be useful in
some applications.

To overcome the restricted combination, one can add gates to the inputs that would
convert (S,R) = (1,1) to one of the non-restricted combinations. That can be:

• Q = 1 (1,0) – referred to as an S-latch

• Q = 0 (0,1) – referred to as an R-latch
• Keep state (0,0) – referred to as an E-latch

Alternatively, the restricted combination can be made to toggle the output. The result is
the JK latch.

Characteristic: Q+ = R'Q + R'S or Q+ = R'Q + S.

SR NAND latch

SR latch

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This is an alternate model of the simple SR latch built with NAND (not AND) logic
gates. Set and reset now become active low signals, denoted S and R respectively.
Otherwise, operation is identical to that of the SR latch. Historically, SR-latches have
been predominant despite the notational inconvenience of active-low inputs. This is
because NAND gates are cheaper to produce than NOR gates in the diode-transistor logic
(DTL), transistor-transistor logic (TTL) families, and complementary metal–oxide
semiconductor (CMOS) logic families.

SR latch operation
SR Action
0 0 Restricted combination
01 Q=1
10 Q=0
Symbol for an SR NAND latch

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11 No Change

JK latch
The JK latch is much less used than the JK flip-flop. The JK latch follows the following
state table:

JK latch truth table

J K Qnext Comment
0 0 Q No change
01 0 Reset
10 1 Set
11 Q Toggle

Hence, the JK latch is an SR latch that is made to toggle its output when passed the
restricted combination of 11. Unlike the JK Flip-Flop, in the JK latch, this is not a useful
state because the speed of the toggling is not directed by a clock.

Gated latches and conditional transparency

Latches are designed to be transparent. That is, input signal changes cause immediate
changes in output; when several transparent latches follow each other, using the same
clock signal, signals can propagate through all of them at once. Alternatively, additional
logic can be added to a simple transparent latch to make it non-transparent or opaque
when another input (an "enable" input) is not asserted. By following a transparent-high
latch with a transparent-low (or opaque-high) latch, a master–slave flip-flop is
implemented.

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Gated SR latch

A gated SR latch circuit diagram constructed from NOR gates.

A synchronous SR latch (sometimes clocked SR flip-flop) can be made by adding a

second level of NAND gates to the inverted SR latch (or a second level of AND gates to

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the direct SR latch). The extra gates further invert the inputs so the simple SR latch
becomes a gated SR latch (and a simple SR latch would transform into a gated SR latch
with inverted enable).

With E high (enable true), the signals can pass through the input gates to the encapsulated
latch; all signal combinations except for (0,0) = hold then immediately reproduce on the
(Q,Q) output, i.e. the latch is transparent.

With E low (enable false) the latch is closed (opaque) and remains in the state it was left
the last time E was high.

The enable input is sometimes a clock signal, but more often a read or write strobe.

Gated SR latch operation

E/C Action

0 No action (keep state)

1 The same as non-clocked SR latch

Symbol for a gated SR latch

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Gated D latch

A D-type transparent latch based on SR NAND latch

D Input
E Enable/clock

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Q Output
Q Inverse of Q

A gated D latch based on SR NOR latch

This latch exploits the fact that in the two active input combinations (01 and 10) of a
gated SR latch R is the complement of S. The input NAND stage converts the two D
input states (0 and 1) to these two input combinations for the next SR latch by inverting
the data input signal. The low state of the enable signal produces the inactive "11"
combination. Thus a gated D-latch may be considered as a one-input synchronous SR
latch. This configuration prevents from applying the restricted combination to the inputs.
It is also known as transparent latch, data latch, or simply gated latch. It has a data input
and an enable signal (sometimes named clock, or control). The word transparent comes
from the fact that, when the enable input is on, the signal propagates directly through the
circuit, from the input D to the output Q.

Transparent latches are typically used as I/O ports or in asynchronous systems, or in

synchronous two-phase systems (synchronous systems that use a two-phase clock), where
two latches operating on different clock phases prevent data transparency as in a master–
slave flip-flop.

Latches are available as integrated circuits, usually with multiple latches per chip. For
example, 74HC75 is a quadruple transparent latch in the 7400 series.

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 Gated D latch truth table

E/C D Q Q Comment

0 X Qprev Qprev No change

1 0 0 1 Reset Symbol for a gated D latch

1 1 1 0 Set

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The truth table shows that when the enable/clock input is 0, the D input has no effect on
the output. When E/C is high, the output equals D.

Earle latch

Earle latch uses complementary Enable inputs: Enable active Low (E_L) and Enable
active H (E_H)

The classic gated latch designs have some undesirable characteristics. They require
double-rail logic or an inverter. The input-to-output propagation may take up to three gate
delays. The input-to-output propagation is not constant – some outputs take two gate
delays while others take three.

Designers looked for alternatives. A successful alternative is the Earle latch. It requires
only a single data input, and its output takes a constant two gate delays. In addition, the
two gate levels of the Earle latch can be merged with the last two gate levels of the
circuits driving the latch. Merging the latch function can implement the latch with no
additional gate delays.

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The Earle latch is hazard free. If the middle NAND gate is omitted, then one gets the
polarity hold latch, which is commonly used because it demands less logic. Intentionally
skewing the clock signal can avoid the hazard.

D flip-flop

WT D flip-flop symbol

The D flip-flop is the most common flip-flop in use today. It is better known as data or
delay flip-flop (as its output Q looks like a delay of input D).

The Q output takes on the state of the D input at the moment of a positive edge at the
clock pin (or negative edge if the clock input is active low). It is called the D flip-flop for
this reason, since the output takes the value of the D input or data input, and delays it by
one clock cycle. The D flip-flop can be interpreted as a primitive memory cell, zero-order
hold, or delay line. Whenever the clock pulses, the value of Qnext is D and Qprev otherwise.

Truth table:

Clock D Q Qprev
Rising edge 0 0 X
Rising edge 1 1 X
Non-Rising X Qprev

('X' denotes a Don't care condition, meaning the signal is irrelevant)

Most D-type flip-flops in ICs have the capability to be forced to the set or reset state
(which ignores the D and clock inputs), much like an SR flip-flop. Usually, the illegal S =
R = 1 condition is resolved in D-type flip-flops. By setting S = R = 0, the flip-flop can be
used as described above.

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 Inputs Outputs
S R D > Q Q'
0 1 X X 0 1
1 0 X X 1 0
1 1 X X 1 1

WT
4-bit serial-in, serial-out (SISO) shift register

These flip-flops are very useful, as they form the basis for shift registers, which are an
essential part of many electronic devices. The advantage of the D flip-flop over the D-
type "transparent latch" is that the signal on the D input pin is captured the moment the
flip-flop is clocked, and subsequent changes on the D input will be ignored until the next
clock event. An exception is that some flip-flops have a "reset" signal input, which will
reset Q (to zero), and may be either asynchronous or synchronous with the clock.

The above circuit shifts the contents of the register to the right, one bit position on each
active transition of the clock. The input X is shifted into the leftmost bit position.

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Classical positive-edge-triggered D flip-flop

WT A positive-edge-triggered D flip-flop

This clever circuit consists of two stages implemented by SR NAND latches. The input
stage (the two latches on the left) processes the clock and data signals to ensure correct
input signals for the output stage (the single latch on the right). If the clock is low, both
the output signals of the input stage are high regardless of the data input; the output latch
is unaffected and it stores the previous state. When the clock signal changes from low to
high, only one of the output voltages (depending on the data signal) goes low and
sets/resets the output latch: if D = 0, the lower output becomes low; if D = 1, the upper
output becomes low. If the clock signal continues staying high, the outputs keep their
states regardless of the data input and force the output latch to stay in the corresponding
state as the input logical zero remains active while the clock is high. Hence the role of the
output latch is to store the data only while the clock is low.

The circuit is closely related to the gated D latch as both the circuits convert the two D
input states (0 and 1) to two input combinations (01 and 10) for the output SR latch by
inverting the data input signal (both the circuits split the single D signal in two
complementary S and R signals). The difference is that in the gated D latch simple
NAND logical gates are used while in the positive-edge-triggered D flip-flop SR NAND
latches are used for this purpose. The role of these latches is to "lock" the active output
producing low voltage (a logical zero); thus the positive-edge-triggered D flip-flop can be
thought as of a gated D latch with latched input gates.

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Master–slave pulse-triggered D flip-flop
A master–slave D flip-flop is created by connecting two gated D latches in series, and
inverting the enable input to one of them. It is called master–slave because the second
latch in the series only changes in response to a change in the first (master) latch.

The term pulse-triggered means that data is entered on the rising edge of the clock pulse,
but the output does not reflect the change until the falling edge of the clock pulse.

WT
A master–slave D flip-flop. It responds on the negative edge of the enable input (usually
a clock)

An implementation of a master–slave D flip-flop that is triggered on the positive edge of

the clock

For a positive-edge triggered master–slave D flip-flop, when the clock signal is low
(logical 0) the "enable" seen by the first or "master" D latch (the inverted clock signal) is
high (logical 1). This allows the "master" latch to store the input value when the clock
signal transitions from low to high. As the clock signal goes high (0 to 1) the inverted
"enable" of the first latch goes low (1 to 0) and the value seen at the input to the master
latch is "locked". Nearly simultaneously, the twice inverted "enable" of the second or
"slave" D latch transitions from low to high (0 to 1) with the clock signal. This allows the
signal captured at the rising edge of the clock by the now "locked" master latch to pass
through the "slave" latch. When the clock signal returns to low (1 to 0), the output of the
"slave" latch is "locked", and the value seen at the last rising edge of the clock is held
while the "master" latch begins to accept new values in preparation for the next rising
clock edge.

By removing the leftmost inverter in the circuit at side, a D-type flip flop that strobes on
the falling edge of a clock signal can be obtained. This has a truth table like this:

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 D Q > Qnext
0 X Falling 0
1 X Falling 1

WT
A CMOS IC implementation of a True Single Phase edge-triggered flip-flop with reset

Edge-triggered dynamic D flip-flop

A more efficient way to make a D flip-flop is not so easy to understand, but it works the
same way. While the master–slave D flip-flop is also triggered on the edge of a clock, its
components are each triggered by clock levels. The "edge-triggered D flip-flop" does not
have the master–slave properties.

Edge-triggered D flip-flops are often implemented in integrated high-speed operations

using dynamic logic. This means that the digital output is stored on parasitic device
capacitance while the device is not transitioning. This design of dynamic flip flops also
enable simple resetting since the reset operation can be performed by simply discharging
one or more internal nodes. A common dynamic flip-flop variety is the True Single Phase
Clock (TSPC) which performs the flip flop operation with little power and at high speeds.
However these types of dynamic flip-flops will not work at static or low clocked speeds,
since given enough time the parasitic capacitance will discharge through leakage paths
and will cause the logic levels to enter invalid states.

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T flip-flop

WT
A circuit symbol for a T-type flip-flop

If the T input is high, the T flip-flop changes state ("toggles") whenever the clock input is
strobed. If the T input is low, the flip-flop holds the previous value. This behavior is
described by the characteristic equation:

(expanding the XOR operator)

and can be described in a truth table:

T flip-flop operation
Characteristic table Excitation table
T Q Qnext Comment Q Qnext T Comment
0 0 0 hold state (no clk) 0 0 0 No change
0 1 1 hold state (no clk) 1 1 0 No change
1 0 1 toggle 0 1 1 Complement
1 1 0 toggle 1 0 1 Complement

When T is held high, the toggle flip-flop divides the clock frequency by two; that is, if
clock frequency is 4 MHz, the output frequency obtained from the flip-flop will be
2 MHz. This "divide by" feature has application in various types of digital counters. A T
flip-flop can also be built using a JK flip-flop (J & K pins are connected together and act
as T) or D flip-flop (T input and Qprevious is connected to the D input through an XOR
gate). A T flip-flop can also be built using an edge-triggered D flip-flop with its D input
fed from its own inverted output.

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JK flip-flop

A circuit symbol for a positive-edge-triggered JK flip-flop

WT JK flip-flop timing diagram

The JK flip-flop augments the behavior of the SR flip-flop (J=Set, K=Reset) by

interpreting the S = R = 1 condition as a "flip" or toggle command. Specifically, the
combination J = 1, K = 0 is a command to set the flip-flop; the combination J = 0, K = 1
is a command to reset the flip-flop; and the combination J = K = 1 is a command to
toggle the flip-flop, i.e., change its output to the logical complement of its current value.
Setting J = K = 0 does NOT result in a D flip-flop, but rather, will hold the current state.
To synthesize a D flip-flop, simply set K equal to the complement of J. The JK flip-flop
is therefore a universal flip-flop, because it can be configured to work as an SR flip-flop,
a D flip-flop, or a T flip-flop.

NOTE: The flip-flop is positive-edge triggered (rising clock pulse) as seen in the timing
diagram.

The characteristic equation of the JK flip-flop is:

and the corresponding truth table is:

JK Flip Flop operation

Characteristic table Excitation table
J K Qnext Comment Q Qnext J K Comment

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0 0 Q hold state 0 0 0 X No change
0 1 0 reset 0 1 1X Set
1 0 1 set 1 0 X 1 Reset
1 1 Q toggle 1 1 X 0 No change

Metastability
Flip-flops are prone to a problem called metastability, which can happen when two
inputs, such as data and clock or clock and reset, are changing at about the same time,
such that the resulting state would depend on the order of the input events. When the
order is not clear, within appropriate timing constraints, the result is that the output may
behave unpredictably, taking many times longer than normal to settle to one state or the
other, or even oscillating several times before settling. Theoretically, the time to settle
down is not bounded. In a computer system, this metastability can cause corruption of

WT
data or a program crash, if the state is not stable before another circuit uses its value; in
particular, if two different logical paths use the output of a flip-flop, one path can
interpret it as a 0 and the other as a 1 when it has not resolved to stable state, putting the
machine into an inconsistent state.

Timing considerations
Setup and hold times

Flip-flop setup, hold and clock-to-output timing parameters

Setup time is the minimum amount of time the data signal should be held steady before
the clock event so that the data are reliably sampled by the clock. This applies to
synchronous circuits such as the flip-flop.

Hold time is the minimum amount of time the data signal should be held steady after the
clock event so that the data are reliably sampled. This applies to synchronous circuits
such as the flip-flop.

To summarize: Setup time -> Clock flank -> Hold time.

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The metastability in flip-flops can be avoided by ensuring that the data and control inputs
are held valid and constant for specified periods before and after the clock pulse, called
the setup time (tsu) and the hold time (th) respectively. These times are specified in the
data sheet for the device, and are typically between a few nanoseconds and a few hundred
picoseconds for modern devices.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to meet the setup and hold criteria, because the
flip-flop may be connected to a real-time signal that could change at any time, outside the
control of the designer. In this case, the best the designer can do is to reduce the
probability of error to a certain level, depending on the required reliability of the circuit.
One technique for suppressing metastability is to connect two or more flip-flops in a
chain, so that the output of each one feeds the data input of the next, and all devices share
a common clock. With this method, the probability of a metastable event can be reduced
to a negligible value, but never to zero. The probability of metastability gets closer and
closer to zero as the number of flip-flops connected in series is increased.

WT
So-called metastable-hardened flip-flops are available, which work by reducing the setup
and hold times as much as possible, but even these cannot eliminate the problem entirely.
This is because metastability is more than simply a matter of circuit design. When the
transitions in the clock and the data are close together in time, the flip-flop is forced to
decide which event happened first. However fast we make the device, there is always the
possibility that the input events will be so close together that it cannot detect which one
happened first. It is therefore logically impossible to build a perfectly metastable-proof
flip-flop.

Propagation delay

Another important timing value for a flip-flop (F/F) is the clock-to-output delay (common
symbol in data sheets: tCO) or propagation delay (tP), which is the time the flip-flop takes
to change its output after the clock edge. The time for a high-to-low transition (tPHL) is
sometimes different from the time for a low-to-high transition (tPLH).

When cascading F/Fs which share the same clock (as in a shift register), it is important to
ensure that the tCO of a preceding F/F is longer than the hold time (th) of the following
flip-flop, so data present at the input of the succeeding F/F is properly "shifted in"
following the active edge of the clock. This relationship between tCO and th is normally
guaranteed if the F/Fs are physically identical. Furthermore, for correct operation, it is
easy to verify that the clock period has to be greater than the sum tsu + th.

Generalizations
Flip-flops can be generalized in at least two ways: by making them 1-of-N instead of 1-
of-2, and by adapting them to logic with more than two states. In the special cases of 1-
of-3 encoding, or multi-valued ternary logic, these elements may be referred to as flip-
flap-flops.

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In a conventional flip-flop, exactly one of the two complementary outputs is high. This
can be generalized to a memory element with N outputs, exactly one of which is high
(alternatively, where exactly one of N is low). The output is therefore always a one-hot
(respectively one-cold) representation. The construction is similar to a conventional
cross-coupled flip-flop; each output, when high, inhibits all the other outputs.
Alternatively, more or less conventional flip-flops can be used, one per output, with
additional circuitry to make sure only one at a time can be true.

Another generalization of the conventional flip-flop is a memory element for multi-

valued logic. In this case the memory element retains exactly one of the logic states until
the control inputs induce a change. In addition, a multiple-valued clock can also be used,
leading to new possible clock transitions.

WT
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Chapter-10

Electronic Circuit

WT
The die from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit microcontroller that includes a CPU, 128 bytes of
RAM, 2048 bytes of EPROM, and I/O in the same chip.

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 WT
A circuit built on a printed circuit board (PCB).

An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors,

transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces
through which electric current can flow. The combination of components and wires
allows various simple and complex operations to be performed: signals can be amplified,
computations can be performed, and data can be moved from one place to another.
Circuits can be constructed of discrete components connected by individual pieces of
wire, but today it is much more common to create interconnections by photolithographic
techniques on a laminated substrate (a printed circuit board or PCB) and solder the
components to these interconnections to create a finished circuit. In an Integrated Circuit
or IC, the components and interconnections are formed on the same substrate, typically a
semiconductor such as silicon or (less commonly) gallium arsenide.

Breadboards, perfboards or stripboards are common for testing new designs. They allow
the designer to make quick changes to the circuit during development.

An electronic circuit can usually be categorized as an analog circuit, a digital circuit or a

mixed-signal circuit (a combination of analog circuits and digital circuits).

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Analog circuits

WT
A circuit diagram representing an analog circuit, in this case a simple amplifier.

Analog electronic circuits are those in which current or voltage may vary continuously
with time to correspond to the information being represented. Analog circuitry is
constructed from two fundamental building blocks: series and parallel circuits. In a series
circuit, the same current passes through a series of components. A string of Christmas
lights is a good example of a series circuit: if one goes out, they all do. In a parallel
circuit, all the components are connected to the same voltage, and the current divides
between the various components according to their resistance.

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 WTA simple schematic showing wires, a resistor, and a battery.

The basic components of analog circuits are wires, resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes,
and transistors. (Recently, memristors have been added to the list of available
components.) Analog circuits are very commonly represented in schematic diagrams, in
which wires are shown as lines, and each component has a unique symbol. Analog circuit
analysis employs Kirchhoff's circuit laws: all the currents at a node (a place where wires
meet) must add to 0, and the voltage around a closed loop of wires is 0. Wires are usually
treated as ideal zero-voltage interconnections; any resistance or reactance is captured by
explicitly adding a parasitic element, such as a discrete resistor or inductor. Active
components such as transistors are often treated as controlled current or voltage sources:
for example, a field-effect transistor can be modeled as a current source from the source
to the drain, with the current controlled by the gate-source voltage.

When the circuit size is comparable to a wavelength of the relevant signal frequency, a
more sophisticated approach must be used. Wires are treated as transmission lines, with
(hopefully) constant characteristic impedance, and the impedances at the start and end
determine transmitted and reflected waves on the line. Such considerations typically
become important for circuit boards at frequencies above a GHz; integrated circuits are
smaller and can be treated as lumped elements for frequencies less than 10 GHz or so.

An alternative model is to take independent power sources and induction as basic

electronic units; this allows modeling frequency dependent negative resistors, gyrators,
negative impedance converters, and dependent sources as secondary electronic
components.

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Digital circuits
In digital electronic circuits, electric signals take on discrete values, to represent logical
and numeric values. These values represent the information that is being processed. In the
vast majority of cases, binary encoding is used: one voltage (typically the more positive
value) represents a binary '1' and another voltage (usually a value near the ground
potential, 0 V) represents a binary '0'. Digital circuits make extensive use of transistors,
interconnected to create logic gates that provide the functions of Boolean logic: AND,
OR, NOT, and all possible combinations there of. Transistors interconnected so as to
provide positive feedback are used as latches and flip flops, circuits that have two or
more metastable states, and remain in one of these states until changed by an external
input. Digital circuits therefore can provide both logic and memory, enabling them to
perform arbitrary computational functions. (Memory based on flip-flops is known as
SRAM (static random access memory). Memory based on the storage of charge in a

WT
capacitor, DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is also widely used.)

Digital circuits are fundamentally easier to design than analog circuits for the same level
of complexity, because each logic gate regenerates the binary signal, so the designer need
not account for distortion, gain control, offset voltages, and other concerns faced in an
analog design. As a consequence, extremely complex digital circuits, with billions of
logic elements integrated on a single silicon chip, can be fabricated at low cost. Such
digital integrated circuits are ubiquitous in modern electronic devices, such as calculators,
mobile phone handsets, and computers.

Digital circuitry is used to create general purpose computing chips, such as

microprocessors, and custom-designed logic circuits, known as Application Specific
Integrated Circuits (ASICs). Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), chips with logic
circuitry whose configuration can be modified after fabrication, are also widely used in
prototyping and development.

Mixed-signal circuits
Mixed-signal or hybrid circuits contain elements of both analog and digital circuits.
Examples include comparators, timers, PLLs, ADCs (analog-to-digital converters), and
DACs (digital-to-analog converters). Most modern radio and communications circuitry
uses mixed signal circuits. For example, in a receiver, analog circuitry is used to amplify
and frequency-convert signals so that they reach a suitable state to be converted into
digital values, after which further signal processing can be performed in the digital
domain.

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Chapter-11

Electronic Design Automation

WT
PCB layout program

Electronic design automation (EDA or ECAD) is a category of software tools for

designing electronic systems such as printed circuit boards and integrated circuits. The
tools work together in a design flow that chip designers use to design and analyze entire
semiconductor chips.

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History
Early days

Before EDA, integrated circuits were designed by hand, and manually laid out. Some
advanced shops used geometric software to generate the tapes for the Gerber
photoplotter, but even those copied digital recordings of mechanically-drawn com-
ponents. The process was fundamentally graphic, with the translation from electronics to
graphics done manually. The best known company from this era was Calma, whose
GDSII format survives.

By the mid-70s, developers started to automate the design, and not just the drafting. The
first placement and routing (Place and route) tools were developed. The proceedings of
the Design Automation Conference cover much of this era.

WT
The next era began about the time of the publication of "Introduction to VLSI Systems"
by Carver Mead and Lynn Conway in 1980. This ground breaking text advocated chip
design with programming languages that compiled to silicon. The immediate result was a
considerable increase in the complexity of the chips that could be designed, with
improved access to design verification tools that used logic simulation. Often the chips
were easier to lay out and more likely to function correctly, since their designs could be
simulated more thoroughly prior to construction. Although the languages and tools have
evolved, this general approach of specifying the desired behavior in a textual
programming language and letting the tools derive the detailed physical design remains
the basis of digital IC design today.

The earliest EDA tools were produced academically. One of the most famous was the
"Berkeley VLSI Tools Tarball", a set of UNIX utilities used to design early VLSI
systems. Still widely used is the Espresso heuristic logic minimizer and Magic.

Another crucial development was the formation of MOSIS, a consortium of universities

and fabricators that developed an inexpensive way to train student chip designers by
producing real integrated circuits. The basic concept was to use reliable, low-cost,
relatively low-technology IC processes, and pack a large number of projects per wafer,
with just a few copies of each projects' chips. Cooperating fabricators either donated the
processed wafers, or sold them at cost, seeing the program as helpful to their own long-
term growth.

Birth of commercial EDA

1981 marks the beginning of EDA as an industry. For many years, the larger electronic
companies, such as Hewlett Packard, Tektronix, and Intel, had pursued EDA internally.
In 1981, managers and developers spun out of these companies to concentrate on EDA as
a business. Daisy Systems, Mentor Graphics, and Valid Logic Systems were all founded
around this time, and collectively referred to as DMV. Within a few years there were

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many companies specializing in EDA, each with a slightly different emphasis. The first
trade show for EDA was held at the Design Automation Conference in 1984.

In 1986, Verilog, a popular high-level design language, was first introduced as a

hardware description language by Gateway Design Automation. In 1987, the U.S.
Department of Defense funded creation of VHDL as a specification language. Simulators
quickly followed these introductions, permitting direct simulation of chip designs:
executable specifications. In a few more years, back-ends were developed to perform
logic synthesis.

WT
3D PCB layout

Current status

Current digital flows are extremely modular. The front ends produce standardized design
descriptions that compile into invocations of "cells,", without regard to the cell
technology. Cells implement logic or other electronic functions using a particular
integrated circuit technology. Fabricators generally provide libraries of components for
their production processes, with simulation models that fit standard simulation tools.
Analog EDA tools are far less modular, since many more functions are required, they
interact more strongly, and the components are (in general) less ideal.

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EDA for electronics has rapidly increased in importance with the continuous scaling of
semiconductor technology. Some users are foundry operators, who operate the
semiconductor fabrication facilities, or "fabs", and design-service companies who use
EDA software to evaluate an incoming design for manufacturing readiness. EDA tools
are also used for programming design functionality into FPGAs.

Software focuses
Design

• High-level synthesis(syn. behavioural synthesis, algorithmic synthesis) For digital

chips
• Logic synthesis translation of abstract, logical language such as Verilog or VHDL
into a discrete netlist of logic-gates

WT
• Schematic Capture For standard cell digital, analog, rf like Capture CIS in Orcad
by CADENCE and ISIS in Proteus
• Layout like Layout in Orcad by Cadence, ARES in Proteus

Simulation

• Transistor simulation – low-level transistor-simulation of a schematic/layout's

behavior, accurate at device-level.
• Logic simulation – digital-simulation of an RTL or gate-netlist's digital (boolean
0/1) behavior, accurate at boolean-level.
• Behavioral Simulation – high-level simulation of a design's architectural
operation, accurate at cycle-level or interface-level.
• Hardware emulation – Use of special purpose hardware to emulate the logic of a
proposed design. Can sometimes be plugged into a system in place of a yet-to-be-
built chip; this is called in-circuit emulation.
• Technology CAD simulate and analyze the underlying process technology.
Electrical properties of devices are derived directly from device physics.
• Electromagnetic field solvers, or just field solvers, solve Maxwell's equations
directly for cases of interest in IC and PCB design. They are known for being
slower but more accurate than the layout extraction above.

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 •
•

•
WT
Analysis and verification

Functional verification
Schematic capture program

Clock Domain Crossing Verification (CDC check): Similar to linting, but these
checks/tools specialize in detecting and reporting potential issues like data loss,
meta-stability due to use of multiple clock domains in the design.
Formal verification, also model checking: Attempts to prove, by mathematical
methods, that the system has certain desired properties, and that certain undesired
effects (such as deadlock) cannot occur.
Equivalence checking: algorithmic comparison between a chip's RTL-description
and synthesized gate-netlist, to ensure functional equivalence at the logical level.
• Static timing analysis: Analysis of the timing of a circuit in an input-independent
manner, hence finding a worst case over all possible inputs.
• Physical verification, PV: checking if a design is physically manufacturable, and
that the resulting chips will not have any function-preventing physical defects,
and will meet original specifications.

Manufacturing preparation

• Mask data preparation, MDP: generation of actual lithography photomask used to

physically manufacture the chip.
o Resolution enhancement techniques, RET – methods of increasing of
quality of final photomask.

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 o Optical proximity correction, OPC – up-front compensation for diffraction
and interference effects occurring later when chip is manufactured using
this mask.
o Mask generation – generation of flat mask image from hierarchical design.
o Automatic test pattern generation, ATPG – generates pattern-data to
systematically exercise as many logic-gates, and other components, as
possible.
o Built-in self-test, or BIST – installs self-contained test-controllers to
automatically test a logic (or memory) structure in the design

WT PCB layout and schematic for connector design

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Chapter-12

Electronic Symbol

WT Common circuit diagram symbols (US symbols)

An electronic symbol is a pictogram used to represent various electrical and electronic

devices (such as wires, batteries, resistors, and transistors) in a schematic diagram of an
electrical or electronic circuit. These symbols can (because of remaining traditions) vary
from country to country, but are today to a large extent internationally standardized.
Some symbols (such as those of vacuum tubes) became virtually extinct with the
development of new technologies.

Standards for symbols

There are several national and international standards for graphical symbols in circuit
diagrams, in particular:

• IEC 60617 (also known as British Standard BS 3939)

• ANSI standard Y32 (also known as IEEE Std 315)
• Australian Standard AS 1102

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Different symbols may be used depending on the discipline using the drawing. For
example, lighting and power symbols used as part of architectural drawings may be
different from symbols for devices used in electronics. National and local variations to
international standards also exist.

Reference designations
A reference designator unambiguously identifies a component in an electrical schematic
(circuit diagram) or on a printed circuit board (PCB). The reference designator usually
consists of one or two letters followed by a number, e.g. R13, C1002. The number is
sometimes followed by a letter, indicating that components are grouped or matched with
each other, e.g. R17A, R17B. IEEE 315 contains a list of Class Designation Letters to use
for electrical and electronic assemblies. For example, the letter R is a reference prefix for
the resistors of an assembly, C for capacitors, K for relays.

WT
IEEE 200-1975 or "Standard Reference Designations for Electrical and Electronics Parts
and Equipments" is a standard that was used to define referencing naming systems for
collections of electronic equipment. IEEE 200 was ratified in 1975. The IEEE renewed
the standard in the 1990s, but withdrew it from active support shortly thereafter. This
standard also has an ANSI document number ANSI Y32.16-1975. They are the same
document.

This standard codified information from, among other sources, a United States military
standard MIL-STD-16 which dates back to at least the 1950s in American industry.

To replace IEEE 200-1975, a standards body for Mechanical Engineers, ASME, initiated
the new standard ASME Y14.44-2008.

This standard along with IEEE 315-1975 provide the electrical designer with guidance on
how to properly reference and annotate everything from a simple circuit board to a
complete enclosure all the way to a collection of these assemblies.

It breaks down a system into units, and then any number of sub-assemblies. The Unit is
the highest level of demarcation in a system and is always a numeral. Subsequent
demarcation are called assemblies and always have the Class Letter "A" as a prefix
following by a sequential number starting with 1. Any number of sub-assemblies may be
defined until finally reaching the component.

Especially valuable is the method of referencing and annotating cables plus their
connectors within and outside assemblies. Examples:

• 1A1A44J5 - Unit 1, Assembly 1, Sub-Assembly 44, Jack 5 (J5 is a connector on a

box referenced as A44)
• 1A1A45J333 - Unit 1, Assembly 1, Sub-Assembly 45, Jack 333 (J333 is a
connector on a box referenced as A45)

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A cable connecting these two might be:

• 1A1W35 - In the assembly A1 is a cable called W35.

Connectors on this cable would be designated:

• 1A1W35P1
• 1A1W35P2

ASME Y14.44-2008 continues the convention of Plug P and Jack J when assigning
references for connectors in electrical assemblies where a J (or jack) is the more fixed
and P (or plug) is the less fixed of a connector pair without regard to the gender of the
connector contacts.

WT
The construction of reference designators is covered by IEEE 200-1975/ANSI Y32.16-
1975 (replaced by ASME Y14.44-2008) and IEEE-315-1975. The table below lists
designators commonly used, and does not comply with the standard.

Designator Component Type

AT Attenuator
BR Bridge rectifier
BT Battery
C Capacitor
CN Capacitor network
D Diode (including zeners, thyristors and LEDs)
DL Delay line
DS Display
F Fuse
FB or FEB Ferrite bead
FD Fiducial
J Jack connector (female)
JP Link (Jumper)
K Relay
L Inductor
LS Loudspeaker or buzzer
M Motor
MK Microphone
MP Mechanical part (including screws and fasteners)
P Plug connector (male)
PS Power supply
Q Transistor (all types)

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R Resistor
RN Resistor network
RT Thermistor
RV Varistor
S Switch (all types, including push-buttons)
T Transformer
TC Thermocouple
TUN Tuner
TP Test point
U Integrated circuit
V Vacuum Tube
VR Variable Resistor (potentiometer or rheostat)

WT
X Transducer not matching any other category
Y Crystal or oscillator
Z Zener Diode

Component name abbreviations widely used in industry:

• AE: aerial, antenna

• B: battery
• BR: bridge rectifier
• C: capacitor
• CRT:cathode ray tube
• D or CR: diode
• DSP:digital signal processor
• F: fuse
• FET:field effect transistor
• GDT: gas discharge tube
• IC: integrated circuit
• J: wire link ("jumper")
• JFET: junction gate field-effect transistor
• L: inductor
• LCD:Liquid crystal display
• LDR: light dependent resistor
• LED: light emitting diode
• LS: speaker
• M: motor
• MCB: circuit breaker
• Mic: microphone
• MOSFET:Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor
• Ne: neon lamp
• OP: Operational Amplifier
• PCB: printed circuit board

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 • PU: pickup
• Q: transistor
• R: resistor
• RLA: RY: relay
• SCR: silicon controlled rectifier
• SW: switch
• T: transformer
• TFT:thin film transistor(display)
• TH: thermistor
• TP: test point
• Tr: transistor
• U: integrated circuit
• V: valve (tube)
• VC: variable capacitor
VFD: vacuum fluorescent display

WT
•
• VLSI:very large scale integration
• VR: variable resistor
• X: crystal, ceramic resonator
• XMER: transformer
• XTAL: crystal
• Z or ZD: Zener diode

Gallery of common electronic symbols

Resistors

Resistor: American (top) and IEC (bottom)

Potentiometer: American

Capacitors

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 Capacitor

Capacitor, polarized (American)

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Capacitor, variable

Transistors

NPN transistor

PNP transistor

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 n-channel junction gate field-effect transistor (JFET)

WT
p-channel junction gate field-effect transistor (JFET)

Field-effect transistor

Diodes

Diode

Zener diode

Tunnel diode

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 Schottky diode

Light Emitting Diode (LED)

WT
Photodiode

Varicap

Vacuum tubes

Vacuum tube triode

Vacuum tube tetrode

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 Vacuum tube pentode

Switches

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Switch, Single Pole/Single Throw (SPST)

Switch, Single Pole/Double Throw (SPDT)

Switch, Double Pole/Double Throw (DPDT)

Miscellaneous

Batteries, single cell, multi-cell

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 Inductor

Transformer, with center tap

WT
Silicon-controlled rectifier

Fuse: IEC (top) and American (lower two)

Phone jacks

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Chapter-13

Circuit Design and Current–voltage

Characteristic

WT
Circuit design
The process of circuit design can cover systems ranging from complex electronic
systems all the way down to the individual transistors within an integrated circuit. For
simple circuits the design process can often be done by one person without needing a
planned or structured design process, but for more complex designs, teams of designers
following a systematic approach with intelligently guided computer simulation are
becoming increasingly common.

In integrated circuit design automation, the term "circuit design" often refers the step of
the design cycle which outputs the schematics of the integrated circuit. Typically this is
the step between logic design and physical design.

Formal circuit design usually involves the following stages:

• sometimes, writing the requirement specification after liaising with the customer
• writing a technical proposal to meet the requirements of the customer
specification
• synthesising on paper a schematic circuit diagram, an abstract electrical or
electronic circuit that will meet the specifications
• calculating the component values to meet the operating specifications under
specified conditions
• performing simulations to verify the correctness of the design
• building a breadboard or other prototype version of the design and testing against
specification
• making any alterations to the circuit to achieve compliance
• choosing a method of construction as well as all the parts and materials to be used
• presenting component and layout information to draughtspersons, and layout and
mechanical engineers, for prototype production
• testing or type-testing a number of prototypes to ensure compliance with customer
requirements

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 • signing and approving the final manufacturing drawings
• post-design services (obsolescence of components etc.)

Specification
The process of circuit design begins with the specification, which states the functionality
that the finished design must provide, but does not indicate how it is to be achieved . The
initial specification is basically a technically detailed description of what the customer
wants the finished circuit to achieve and can include a variety of electrical requirements,
such as what signals the circuit will receive, what signals it must output, what power
supplies are available and how much power it is permitted to consume. The specification
can (and normally does) also set some of the physical parameters that the design must
meet, such as size, weight, moisture resistance, temperature range, thermal output,
vibration tolerance and acceleration tolerance.

WT
As the design process progresses the designer(s) will frequently return to the specification
and alter it to take account of the progress of the design. This can involve tightening
specifications that the customer has supplied, and adding tests that the circuit must pass
in order to be accepted. These additional specifications will often be used in the
verification of a design. Changes that conflict with or modify the customer's original
specifications will almost always have to be approved by the customer before they can be
acted upon.

Correctly identifying the customer needs can avoid a condition known as 'design creep'
which occurs in the absence of realistic initial expectations, and later by failing to
communicate fully with the client during the design process. It can be defined in terms of
its results; "at one extreme is a circuit with more functionality than necessary, and at the
other is a circuit having an incorrect functionality". (DeMers, 1997) Nevertheless some
changes can be expected and it is good practice to keep options open for as long as
possible because it's easier to remove spare elements from the circuit later on than it is to
put them in.

Design
The design process involves moving from the specification at the start, to a plan that
contains all the information needed to be physically constructed at the end, this normally
happens by passing through a number of stages, although in very simple circuit it may be
done in a single step. The process normally begins with the conversion of the
specification into a block diagram of the various functions that the circuit must perform,
at this stage the contents of each block are not considered, only what each block must do,
this is sometimes referred to as a "black box" design. This approach allows the possibly
very complicated task to be broken into smaller tasks which may either by tackled in
sequence or divided amongst members of a design team.

Each block is then considered in more detail, still at an abstract stage, but with a lot more
focus on the details of the electrical functions to be provided. At this or later stages it is

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common to require a large amount of research or mathematical modeling into what is and
is not feasible to achieve. The results of this research may be fed back into earlier stages
of the design process, for example if it turns out one of the blocks cannot be designed
within the parameters set for it, it may be necessary to alter other blocks instead. At this
point it is also common to start considering both how to demonstrate that the design does
meet the specifications, and how it is to be tested ( which can include self diagnostic tools
).

Finally the individual circuit components are chosen to carry out each function in the
overall design, at this stage the physical layout and electrical connections of each
component are also decided, this layout commonly taking the form of artwork for the
production of a printed circuit board or Integrated circuit. This stage is typically
extremely time consuming because of the vast array of choices available. A practical
constraint on the design at this stage is that of standardization, while a certain value of
component may be calculated for use in some location in a circuit, if that value cannot be

WT
purchased from a supplier, then the problem has still not been solved. To avoid this a
certain amount of 'catalog engineering' can be applied to solve the more mundane tasks
within an overall design.

Costs

Proper design philosophy and structure incorporates economic and technical

considerations and keeps them in balance at all times, and right from the start. Balance is
the key concept here; just as many delays and pitfalls can come from ill considered cost
cutting as with cost overruns. Good accounting tools (and a design culture that fosters
their use) is imperative for a successful project. "Manufacturing costs shrink as design
costs soar," is often quoted as a truism in circuit design, particularly for ICs.

Verification and testing

Once a circuit has been designed, it must be both verified and tested. Verification is the
process of going through each stage of a design and ensuring that it will do what the
specification requires it to do. This is frequently a highly mathematical process and can
involve large-scale computer simulations of the design. In any complicated design it is
very likely that problems will be found at this stage and may involve a large amount of
the design work be redone in order to fix them.

Testing is the real-world counterpart to verification, testing involves physically building

at least a prototype of the design and then (in combination with the test procedures in the
specification or added to it) checking the circuit really does do what it was designed to.

Prototyping
Prototyping is a means of exploring ideas before an investment is made in them.
Depending on the scope of the prototype and the level of detail required, prototypes can
be built at any time during the project. Sometimes they are created early in the project,

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during the planning and specification phase, commonly using a process known as
breadboarding; that's when the need for exploration is greatest, and when the time
investment needed is most viable. Later in the cycle packaging mock-ups are used to
explore appearance and usability, and occasionally a circuit will need to be modified to
take these factors into account.

Results
As circuit design is the process of working out the physical form that an electronic circuit
will take, the result of the circuit design process is the instructions on how to construct
the physical electronic circuit. This will normally take the form of blueprints describing
the size, shape, connectors, etc., in use, and artwork or CAM file for manufacturing a
printed circuit board or Integrated circuit.

WT
Documentation

Any commercial design will normally also include an element of documentation, the
precise nature of this documentation will vary according to the size and complexity of the
circuit as well as the country in which it is to be used. As a bare minimum the
documentation will normally include at least the specification and testing procedures for
the design and a statement of compliance with current regulations. In the EU this last
item will normally take the form of a CE Declaration listing the European directives
complied with and naming an individual responsible for compliance.

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Current–voltage characteristic

WT
Figure 1. I–V curve of a P–N junction diode (not to scale).

A current–voltage characteristic is a relationship, typically represented as a chart or

graph, between an electric current and a corresponding voltage, or potential difference.

In electronics

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Figure 2. MOSFET drain current vs. drain-to-source voltage for several values of the
overdrive voltage, VGS − Vth; the boundary between linear (Ohmic) and saturation
(active) modes is indicated by the upward curving parabola

In electronics, the relationship between the DC current through an electronic device and
the DC voltage across its terminals is called a current–voltage characteristic of the device.
Electronic engineers use these charts to determine basic parameters of a device and to
model its behavior in an electrical circuit. These characteristics are also known as I-V
curves, referring to the standard symbols for current and voltage.

A more general form of current–voltage characteristic is one that describes the

dependence of a terminal current on more than one terminal voltage difference; electronic
devices such as vacuum tubes and transistors are described by such characteristics.

Figure 1 shows an I–V curve for a P-N junction diode. Figure 2 shows a family of I–V

WT
curves for a MOSFET as a function of drain voltage with overvoltage (VGS-Vth) as a
parameter.

The simplest I–V characteristic involves a resistor, which according to Ohm's Law
exhibits a linear relationship between the applied voltage and the resulting electric
current. However, even in this case environmental factors such as temperature or material
characteristics of the resistor can produce a non-linear curve.

The transconductance and Early voltage of a transistor are examples of parameters

traditionally measured with the assistance of an I–V chart, or laboratory equipment that
traces the charts in real time on an oscilloscope.

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In electrophysiology

WT
Figure 3. An approximation of the potassium and sodium ion components of a so-called
"whole cell" I–V curve of a neuron.

While I–V curves are applicable to any electrical system, they find wide use in the field
of biological electricity, particularly in the sub-field of electrophysiology. In this case, the
voltage refers to the voltage across a biological membrane, a membrane potential, and the
current is the flow of charged ions across channels in this membrane. The current is
determined by the conductances of these channels.

In the case of ionic current across biological membranes, currents are measured from
inside to outside. That is, positive currents, known as "outward current", corresponding to
positively charged ions crossing a cell membrane from the inside to the outside, or a
negatively charged ion crossing from the outside to the inside. Similarly, currents with a
negative value are referred to as "inward current", corresponding to positively charged
ions crossing a cell membrane from the outside to the inside, or a negatively charged ion
crossing from inside to outside

Figure 3 shows an I-V curve that is more relevant to the currents in excitable biological
membranes (such as a neuronal axon). The blue line shows the I–V relationship for the
potassium ion. Note that it is linear, indicating no voltage-dependent gating of the
potassium ion channel. The yellow line shows the I–V relationship for the sodium ion.

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Note that it is not linear, indicating that the sodium ion channel is voltage-dependent. The
green line indicates the I–V relationship derived from summing the sodium and potassium
currents. This approximates the actual membrane potential and current relationship of a
cell containing both types of channel.

WT
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Chapter-14

Bipolar Transistor Biasing

WT
Bipolar transistor amplifiers must be properly biased to operate correctly. In circuits
made with individual devices (discrete circuits), biasing networks consisting of resistors
are commonly employed. Much more elaborate biasing arrangements are used in
integrated circuits, for example, bandgap voltage references and current mirrors.

The operating point of a device, also known as bias point, quiescent point, or Q-point, is
the point on the output characteristics that shows the DC collector–emitter voltage (Vce)
and the collector current (Ic) with no input signal applied. The term is normally used in
connection with devices such as transistors.

Bias circuit requirements

Signal requirements for Class A amplifiers

For analog circuit operation, the Q-point is placed so the transistor stays in active mode
(does not shift to operation in the saturation region or cut-off region) when input is
applied. For digital operation, the Q-point is placed so the transistor does the contrary -
switches from "on" to "off" state. Often, Q-point is established near the center of active
region of transistor characteristic to allow similar signal swings in positive and negative
directions. Q-point should be stable. In particular, it should be insensitive to variations in
transistor parameters (for example, should not shift if transistor is replaced by another of
the same type), variations in temperature, variations in power supply voltage and so forth.
The circuit must be practical: easily implemented and cost-effective.

Thermal considerations

At constant current, the voltage across the emitter–base junction VBE of a bipolar
transistor decreases 2 mV (silicon) and 1.8mV (germanium) for each 1°C rise in
temperature (reference being 25°C). By the Ebers–Moll model, if the base–emitter
voltage VBE is held constant and the temperature rises, the current through the base–
emitter diode IB will increase, and thus the collector current IC will also increase.

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Depending on the bias point, the power dissipated in the transistor may also increase,
which will further increase its temperature and exacerbate the problem. This deleterious
positive feedback results in thermal runaway. There are several approaches to mitigate
bipolar transistor thermal runaway. For example,

• Negative feedback can be built into the biasing circuit so that increased collector
current leads to decreased base current. Hence, the increasing collector current
throttles its source.
• Heat sinks can be used that carry away extra heat and prevent the base–emitter
temperature from rising.
• The transistor can be biased so that its collector is normally less than half of the
power supply voltage, which implies that collector–emitter power dissipation is at
its maximum value. Runaway is then impossible because increasing collector
current leads to a decrease in dissipated power; this notion is known as the half-
voltage principle.

WT
The circuits below primarily demonstrate the use of negative feedback to prevent thermal
runaway.

Types of bias circuit for Class A amplifiers

The following discussion treats five common biasing circuits used with Class A bipolar
transistor amplifiers:

1. Fixed bias
2. Collector-to-base bias
3. Fixed bias with emitter resistor
4. Voltage divider bias
5. Emitter bias

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Fixed bias (base bias)

WT Fixed bias (Base bias)

This form of biasing is also called base bias. In the example image on the right, the single
power source (for example, a battery) is used for both collector and base of transistor,
although separate batteries can also be used.

In the given circuit,

Vcc = IBRB + Vbe

Therefore,

IB = (Vcc - Vbe)/RB

For a given transistor, Vbe does not vary significantly during use. As Vcc is of fixed value,
on selection of RB, the base current IB is fixed. Therefore this type is called fixed bias
type of circuit.

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Also for given circuit,

Vcc = ICRC + Vce

Therefore,

Vce = Vcc - ICRC

The common-emitter current gain of a transistor is an important parameter in circuit

design, and is specified on the data sheet for a particular transistor. It is denoted as β on
this page.

Because

WT
IC = βIB

we can obtain IC as well. In this manner, operating point given as (Vce,IC) can be set for
given transistor.

Merits:

• It is simple to shift the operating point anywhere in the active region by merely
changing the base resistor (RB).
• A very small number of components are required.

Demerits:

• The collector current does not remain constant with variation in temperature or
power supply voltage. Therefore the operating point is unstable.

• Changes in Vbe will change IB and thus cause RE to change. This in turn will alter
the gain of the stage.
• When the transistor is replaced with another one, considerable change in the value
of β can be expected. Due to this change the operating point will shift.
• For small-signal transistors (e.g., not power transistors) with relatively high
values of β (i.e., between 100 and 200), this configuration will be prone to thermal
runaway. In particular, the stability factor, which is a measure of the change in
collector current with changes in reverse saturation current, is approximately β+1.
To ensure absolute stability of the amplifier, a stability factor of less than 25 is
preferred, and so small-signal transistors have large stability factors.

Usage:

Due to the above inherent drawbacks, fixed bias is rarely used in linear circuits (i.e.,
those circuits which use the transistor as a current source). Instead, it is often used in
circuits where transistor is used as a switch. However, one application of fixed bias is to

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achieve crude automatic gain control in the transistor by feeding the base resistor from a
DC signal derived from the AC output of a later stage.

Collector-to-base bias

WT Collector-to-base bias

This configuration employs negative feedback to prevent thermal runaway and stabilize
the operating point. In this form of biasing, the base resistor RB is connected to the
collector instead of connecting it to the DC source Vcc. So any thermal runaway will
induce a voltage drop across the RC resistor that will throttle the transistor's base current.

From Kirchhoff's voltage law, the voltage across the base resistor Rb is

By the Ebers–Moll model, Ic = βIb, and so

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From Ohm's law, the base current , and so

Hence, the base current Ib is

WT
If Vbe is held constant and temperature increases, then the collector current Ic increases.
However, a larger Ic causes the voltage drop across resistor Rc to increase, which in turn
reduces the voltage across the base resistor Rb. A lower base-resistor voltage drop
reduces the base current Ib, which results in less collector current Ic. Because an increase
in collector current with temperature is opposed, the operating point is kept stable.

Merits:

• Circuit stabilizes the operating point against variations in temperature and β (i.e.
replacement of transistor)

Demerits:

• In this circuit, to keep Ic independent of β, the following condition must be met:

which is the case when

• As β-value is fixed (and generally unknown) for a given transistor, this relation
can be satisfied either by keeping Rc fairly large or making Rb very low.

• If Rc is large, a high Vcc is necessary, which increases cost as well as

precautions necessary while handling.
• If Rb is low, the reverse bias of the collector–base region is small, which
limits the range of collector voltage swing that leaves the transistor in
active mode.

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 • The resistor Rb causes an AC feedback, reducing the voltage gain of the amplifier.
This undesirable effect is a trade-off for greater Q-point stability.

Usage: The feedback also decreases the input impedance of the amplifier as seen from
the base, which can be advantageous. Due to the gain reduction from feedback, this
biasing form is used only when the trade-off for stability is warranted.

Fixed bias with emitter resistor

WT
Fixed bias with emitter resistor

The fixed bias circuit is modified by attaching an external resistor to the emitter. This
resistor introduces negative feedback that stabilizes the Q-point. From Kirchhoff's
voltage law, the voltage across the base resistor is

VRb = VCC - IeRe - Vbe.

From Ohm's law, the base current is

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Ib = VRb / Rb.

The way feedback controls the bias point is as follows. If Vbe is held constant and
temperature increases, emitter current increases. However, a larger Ie increases the
emitter voltage Ve = IeRe, which in turn reduces the voltage VRb across the base resistor.
A lower base-resistor voltage drop reduces the base current, which results in less
collector current because Ic = ß IB. Collector current and emitter current are related by Ic
= α Ie with α ≈ 1, so increase in emitter current with temperature is opposed, and
operating point is kept stable.

Similarly, if the transistor is replaced by another, there may be a change in IC

(corresponding to change in β-value, for example). By similar process as above, the
change is negated and operating point kept stable.

For the given circuit,

WT
IB = (VCC - Vbe)/(RB + (β+1)RE).

Merits:

The circuit has the tendency to stabilize operating point against changes in temperature
and β-value.

Demerits:

• In this circuit, to keep IC independent of β the following condition must be met:

which is approximately the case if

( β + 1 )RE >> RB.

• As β-value is fixed for a given transistor, this relation can be satisfied either by
keeping RE very large, or making RB very low.

• If RE is of large value, high VCC is necessary. This increases cost as well

as precautions necessary while handling.
• If RB is low, a separate low voltage supply should be used in the base
circuit. Using two supplies of different voltages is impractical.

• In addition to the above, RE causes ac feedback which reduces the voltage gain of
the amplifier.

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Usage:

The feedback also increases the input impedance of the amplifier when seen from the
base, which can be advantageous. Due to the above disadvantages, this type of biasing
circuit is used only with careful consideration of the trade-offs involved.

Collector-Stabilized Biasing

Voltage divider bias

WT
Voltage divider bias

The voltage divider is formed using external resistors R1 and R2. The voltage across R2
forward biases the emitter junction. By proper selection of resistors R1 and R2, the
operating point of the transistor can be made independent of β. In this circuit, the voltage

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divider holds the base voltage fixed independent of base current provided the divider
current is large compared to the base current. However, even with a fixed base voltage,
collector current varies with temperature (for example) so an emitter resistor is added to
stabilize the Q-point, similar to the above circuits with emitter resistor.

In this circuit the base voltage is given by:

voltage across

provided .

WT
Also

For the given circuit,

Merits:

• Unlike above circuits, only one dc supply is necessary.

• Operating point is almost independent of β variation.
• Operating point stabilized against shift in temperature.

Demerits:

• In this circuit, to keep IC independent of β the following condition must be met:

which is approximately the case if

where R1 || R2 denotes the equivalent resistance of R1 and R2 connected in parallel.

• As β-value is fixed for a given transistor, this relation can be satisfied either by
keeping RE fairly large, or making R1||R2 very low.

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 • If RE is of large value, high VCC is necessary. This increases cost as well
as precautions necessary while handling.
• If R1 || R2 is low, either R1 is low, or R2 is low, or both are low. A low R1
raises VB closer to VC, reducing the available swing in collector voltage,
and limiting how large RC can be made without driving the transistor out
of active mode. A low R2 lowers Vbe, reducing the allowed collector
current. Lowering both resistor values draws more current from the power
supply and lowers the input resistance of the amplifier as seen from the
base.

• AC as well as DC feedback is caused by RE, which reduces the AC voltage gain

of the amplifier. A method to avoid AC feedback while retaining DC feedback is
discussed below.

Usage:

WT
The circuit's stability and merits as above make it widely used for linear circuits.

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Voltage divider with AC bypass capacitor

WT Voltage divider with capacitor

The standard voltage divider circuit discussed above faces a drawback - AC feedback
caused by resistor RE reduces the gain. This can be avoided by placing a capacitor (CE) in
parallel with RE, as shown in circuit diagram.

This capacitor is usually chosen to have a low enough reactance at the signal frequencies
of interest such that RE is essentially shorted at AC, thus grounding the emitter. Feedback
is therefore only present at DC to stabilize the operating point, in which case any AC
advantages of feedback are lost.

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Of course, this idea can be used to shunt only a portion of RE, thereby retaining some AC
feedback.

Emitter bias

WT
Emitter bias

When a split supply (dual power supply) is available, this biasing circuit is the most
effective, and provides zero bias voltage at the emitter or collector for load. The negative
supply VEE is used to forward-bias the emitter junction through RE. The positive supply
VCC is used to reverse-bias the collector junction. Only two resistors are necessary for the
common collector stage and four resistors for the common emitter or common base stage.

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We know that,

VB - VE = Vbe

If RB is small enough, base voltage will be approximately zero. Therefore emitter current
is,

IE = (VEE - Vbe)/RE

The operating point is independent of β if RE >> RB/β

Merit:

Good stability of operating point similar to voltage divider bias.

WT
Demerit:

This type can only be used when a split (dual) power supply is available.

Class B and AB amplifiers

Signal requirements

Class B and AB amplifiers employ 2 active devices to cover the complete 360 deg of
input signal flow. Each transistor is therefore biased to perform over approximately 180
deg of the input signal. Class B bias is when the collector current Ic with no signal is just
conducting (about 1 % of maximum possible value). Class AB bias is when the collector
current Ic is about 1/4 of maximum possible value. The class AB push–pull output
amplifier circuit below could be the basis for a moderate-power audio amplifier.

A practical amplifier circuit

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Q3 is a common emitter stage that provides amplification of the signal and the DC bias
current through D1 and D2 to generate a bias voltage for the output devices. The output
pair are arranged in Class AB push–pull, also called a complementary pair. The diodes
D1 and D2 provide a small amount of constant voltage bias for the output pair, just
biasing them into the conducting state so that crossover distortion is minimized. That is,
the diodes push the output stage into class-AB mode (assuming that the base-emitter drop
of the output transistors is reduced by heat dissipation).

This design automatically stabilizes its operating point, since overall feedback internally
operates from DC up through the audio range and beyond. The use of fixed diode bias
requires the diodes to be both electrically and thermally matched to the output transistors.
If the output transistors conduct too much, they can easily overheat and destroy
themselves, as the full current from the power supply is not limited at this stage.

A common solution to help stabilize the output device operating point is to include some

WT
emitter resistors, typically an ohm or so. Calculating the values of the circuit's resistors
and capacitors is done based on the components employed and the intended use of the
amplifier.

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Chapter-15

Printed Circuit Board

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Part of a 1983 Sinclair ZX Spectrum computer board; a populated PCB, showing the
conductive traces, vias (the through-hole paths to the other surface), and some mounted
electrical components

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically

connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched
from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as
printed wiring board (PWB) or etched wiring board. A PCB populated with electronic
components is a printed circuit assembly (PCA), also known as a printed circuit
board assembly (PCBA). Printed circuit boards are used in virtually all but the simplest
commercially-produced electronic devices.

PCBs are inexpensive, and can be highly reliable. They require much more layout effort
and higher initial cost than either wire wrap or point-to-point construction, but are much
cheaper and faster for high-volume production; the production and soldering of PCBs can
be done by totally automated equipment. Much of the electronics industry's PCB design,
assembly, and quality control needs are set by standards that are published by the IPC
organization.

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History
The inventor of the printed circuit was the Austrian engineer Paul Eisler who, while
working in England, made one circa 1936 as part of a radio set. Around 1943 the USA
began to use the technology on a large scale to make rugged radios for use in World War
II. After the war, in 1948, the USA released the invention for commercial use. Printed
circuits did not become commonplace in consumer electronics until the mid-1950s, after
the Auto-Sembly process was developed by the United States Army.

Before printed circuits (and for a while after their invention), point-to-point construction
was used. For prototypes, or small production runs, wire wrap or turret board can be more
efficient. Predating the printed circuit invention, and similar in spirit, was John Sargrove's
1936-1947 Electronic Circuit Making Equipment (ECME) which sprayed metal onto a
Bakelite plastic board. The ECME could produce 3 radios per minute.

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During World War II, the development of the anti-aircraft proximity fuse required an
electronic circuit that could withstand being fired from a gun, and could be produced in
quantity. The Centralab Division of Globe Union submitted a proposal which met the
requirements: a ceramic plate would be screenprinted with metallic paint for conductors
and carbon material for resistors, with ceramic disc capacitors and subminiature vacuum
tubes soldered in place.

Originally, every electronic component had wire leads, and the PCB had holes drilled for
each wire of each component. The components' leads were then passed through the holes
and soldered to the PCB trace. This method of assembly is called through-hole
construction. In 1949, Moe Abramson and Stanislaus F. Danko of the United States Army
Signal Corps developed the Auto-Sembly process in which component leads were
inserted into a copper foil interconnection pattern and dip soldered. With the
development of board lamination and etching techniques, this concept evolved into the
standard printed circuit board fabrication process in use today. Soldering could be done
automatically by passing the board over a ripple, or wave, of molten solder in a wave-
soldering machine. However, the wires and holes are wasteful since drilling holes is
expensive and the protruding wires are merely cut off.

In recent years, the use of surface mount parts has gained popularity as the demand for
smaller electronics packaging and greater functionality has grown.

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Manufacturing
Materials

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A PCB as a design on a computer (left) and realized as a board assembly populated with
components (right). The board is double sided, with through-hole plating, green solder
resist, and white silkscreen printing. Both surface mount and through-hole components
have been used.

A PCB in a computer mouse. The Component Side (left) and the printed side (right).

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 WT
The Component Side of a PCB in a computer mouse; some examples for common
components and their reference designations on the silk screen.

Conducting layers are typically made of thin copper foil. Insulating layers dielectric are
typically laminated together with epoxy resin prepreg. The board is typically coated with
a solder mask that is green in color. Other colors that are normally available are blue,
black, white and red. There are quite a few different dielectrics that can be chosen to
provide different insulating values depending on the requirements of the circuit. Some of
these dielectrics are polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), FR-4, FR-1, CEM-1 or CEM-3.
Well known prepreg materials used in the PCB industry are FR-2 (Phenolic cotton
paper), FR-3 (Cotton paper and epoxy), FR-4 (Woven glass and epoxy), FR-5 (Woven
glass and epoxy), FR-6 (Matte glass and polyester), G-10 (Woven glass and epoxy),
CEM-1 (Cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-2 (Cotton paper and epoxy), CEM-3 (Woven
glass and epoxy), CEM-4 (Woven glass and epoxy), CEM-5 (Woven glass and
polyester). Thermal expansion is an important consideration especially with BGA and
naked die technologies, and glass fiber offers the best dimensional stability.

FR-4 is by far the most common material used today. The board with copper on it is
called "copper-clad laminate".

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Copper foil thickness can be specified in ounces per square foot or micrometres. One
ounce per square foot is 1.344 mils or 34 micrometres.

Patterning (etching)

The vast majority of printed circuit boards are made by bonding a layer of copper over
the entire substrate, sometimes on both sides, (creating a "blank PCB") then removing
unwanted copper after applying a temporary mask (e.g. by etching), leaving only the
desired copper traces. A few PCBs are made by adding traces to the bare substrate (or a
substrate with a very thin layer of copper) usually by a complex process of multiple
electroplating steps. The PCB manufacturing method primarily depends on whether it is
for production volume or sample/prototype quantities.

Commercial (production quantities, usually PTH)

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• silk screen printing -the main commercial method.
• Photographic methods. Used when fine linewidths are required.

Hobbyist/prototype (small quantities, usually not PTH)

• Laser-printed resist: Laser-print onto paper (or wax paper), heat-transfer with an
iron or modified laminator onto bare laminate, then etch.
• Print onto transparent film and use as photomask along with photo-sensitized
boards. (i.e. pre-sensitized boards), Then etch. (Alternatively, use a film
photoplotter).
• Laser resist ablation: Spray black paint onto copper clad laminate, place into CNC
laser plotter. The laser raster-scans the PCB and ablates (vaporizes) the paint
where no resist is wanted. Etch. (Note: laser copper ablation is rarely used and is
considered experimental.)
• Use a CNC-mill with a spade-shaped (i.e. 45-degree) cutter or miniature end-mill
to route away the undesired copper, leaving only the traces.

There are three common "subtractive" methods (methods that remove copper) used for
the production of printed circuit boards:

1. Silk screen printing uses etch-resistant inks to protect the copper foil.
Subsequent etching removes the unwanted copper. Alternatively, the ink may be
conductive, printed on a blank (non-conductive) board. The latter technique is
also used in the manufacture of hybrid circuits.
2. Photoengraving uses a photomask and developer to selectively remove a
photoresist coating. The remaining photoresist protects the copper foil.
Subsequent etching removes the unwanted copper. The photomask is usually
prepared with a photoplotter from data produced by a technician using CAM, or
computer-aided manufacturing software. Laser-printed transparencies are
typically employed for phototools; however, direct laser imaging techniques are
being employed to replace phototools for high-resolution requirements.

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 3. PCB milling uses a two or three-axis mechanical milling system to mill away the
copper foil from the substrate. A PCB milling machine (referred to as a 'PCB
Prototyper') operates in a similar way to a plotter, receiving commands from the
host software that control the position of the milling head in the x, y, and (if
relevant) z axis. Data to drive the Prototyper is extracted from files generated in
PCB design software and stored in HPGL or Gerber file format.

"Additive" processes also exist. The most common is the "semi-additive" process. In this
version, the unpatterned board has a thin layer of copper already on it. A reverse mask is
then applied. (Unlike a subtractive process mask, this mask exposes those parts of the
substrate that will eventually become the traces.) Additional copper is then plated onto
the board in the unmasked areas; copper may be plated to any desired weight. Tin-lead or
other surface platings are then applied. The mask is stripped away and a brief etching step
removes the now-exposed original copper laminate from the board, isolating the
individual traces. Some boards with plated through holes but still single sided were made

WT
with a process like this. General Electric made consumer radio sets in the late 1960s
using boards like these.

The additive process is commonly used for multi-layer boards as it facilitates the plating-
through of the holes (to produce conductive vias) in the circuit board.

PCB copper electroplating machine for adding copper to the in-process PCB

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 WT PCB's in process of adding copper via electroplating

The dimensions of the copper conductors of the printed circuit board is related to the
amount of current the conductor must carry. Each trace consists of a flat, narrow part of
the copper foil that remains after etching. Signal traces are usually narrower than power
or ground traces because their current carrying requirements are usually much less. In a
multi-layer board one entire layer may be mostly solid copper to act as a ground plane for
shielding and power return. For printed circuit boards that contain microwave circuits,
transmission lines can be laid out in the form of stripline and microstrip with carefully
controlled dimensions to assure a consistent impedance. In radio-frequency circuits the
inductance and capacitance of the printed circuit board conductors can be used as a
delibrate part of the circuit design, obviating the need for additional discrete components.

Etching

Chemical etching is done with ferric chloride, ammonium persulfate, or sometimes

hydrochloric acid. For PTH (plated-through holes), additional steps of electroless
deposition are done after the holes are drilled, then copper is electroplated to build up the
thickness, the boards are screened, and plated with tin/lead. The tin/lead becomes the
resist leaving the bare copper to be etched away.

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Lamination

Some PCBs have trace layers inside the PCB and are called multi-layer PCBs. These are
formed by bonding together separately etched thin boards.

Drilling

Holes through a PCB are typically drilled with tiny drill bits made of solid tungsten
carbide. The drilling is performed by automated drilling machines with placement
controlled by a drill tape or drill file. These computer-generated files are also called
numerically controlled drill (NCD) files or "Excellon files". The drill file describes the
location and size of each drilled hole. These holes are often filled with annular rings
(hollow rivets) to create vias. Vias allow the electrical and thermal connection of
conductors on opposite sides of the PCB.

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Most common laminate is epoxy filled fiberglass. Drill bit wear is partly due to
embedded glass, which is harder than steel. High drill speed necessary for cost effective
drilling of hundreds of holes per board causes very high temperatures at the drill bit tip,
and high temperatures (400-700 degrees) soften steel and decompose (oxidize) laminate
filler. Copper is softer than epoxy and interior conductors may suffer damage during
drilling.

When very small vias are required, drilling with mechanical bits is costly because of high
rates of wear and breakage. In this case, the vias may be evaporated by lasers. Laser-
drilled vias typically have an inferior surface finish inside the hole. These holes are called
micro vias.

It is also possible with controlled-depth drilling, laser drilling, or by pre-drilling the

individual sheets of the PCB before lamination, to produce holes that connect only some
of the copper layers, rather than passing through the entire board. These holes are called
blind vias when they connect an internal copper layer to an outer layer, or buried vias
when they connect two or more internal copper layers and no outer layers.

The walls of the holes, for boards with 2 or more layers, are made conductive then plated
with copper to form plated-through holes that electrically connect the conducting layers
of the PCB. For multilayer boards, those with 4 layers or more, drilling typically
produces a smear of the high temperature decomposition products of bonding agent in the
laminate system. Before the holes can be plated through, this smear must be removed by
a chemical de-smear process, or by plasma-etch. Removing (etching back) the smear also
reveals the interior conductors as well.

Exposed conductor plating and coating

PCBs are plated with solder, tin, or gold over nickel as a resist for etching away the
unneeded underlying copper.

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After PCBs are etched and then rinsed with water, the soldermask is applied, and then
any exposed copper is coated with solder, nickel/gold, or some other anti-corrosion
coating.

Matte solder is usually fused to provide a better bonding surface or stripped to bare
copper. Treatments, such as benzimidazolethiol, prevent surface oxidation of bare copper.
The places to which components will be mounted are typically plated, because untreated
bare copper oxidizes quickly, and therefore is not readily solderable. Traditionally, any
exposed copper was coated with solder by hot air solder levelling (HASL). The HASL
finish prevents oxidation from the underlying copper, thereby guaranteeing a solderable
surface. This solder was a tin-lead alloy, however new solder compounds are now used to
achieve compliance with the RoHS directive in the EU and US, which restricts the use of
lead. One of these lead-free compounds is SN100CL, made up of 99.3% tin, 0.7%
copper, 0.05% nickel, and a nominal of 60ppm germanium.

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It is important to use solder compatible with both the PCB and the parts used. An
example is Ball Grid Array (BGA) using tin-lead solder balls for connections losing their
balls on bare copper traces or using lead-free solder paste.

Other platings used are OSP (organic surface protectant), immersion silver (IAg),
immersion tin, electroless nickel with immersion gold coating (ENIG), and direct gold
plating (over nickel). Edge connectors, placed along one edge of some boards, are often
nickel plated then gold plated. Another coating consideration is rapid diffusion of coating
metal into Tin solder. Tin forms intermetallics such as Cu5Sn6 and Ag3Cu that dissolve
into the Tin liquidus or solidus(@50C), stripping surface coating and/or leaving voids.

Electrochemical migration (ECM) is the growth of conductive metal filaments on or in a

printed circuit board (PCB) under the influence of a DC voltage bias. Silver, zinc, and
aluminum are known to grow whiskers under the influence of an electric field. Silver also
grows conducting surface paths in the presence of halide and other ions, making it a poor
choice for electronics use. Tin will grow "whiskers" due to tension in the plated surface.
Tin-Lead or Solder plating also grows whiskers, only reduced by the percentage Tin
replaced. Reflow to melt solder or tin plate to relieve surface stress lowers whisker
incidence. Another coating issue is tin pest, the transformation of tin to a powdery
allotrope at low temperature.

Solder resist

Areas that should not be soldered may be covered with a polymer solder resist (solder
mask) coating. The solder resist prevents solder from bridging between conductors and
creating short circuits. Solder resist also provides some protection from the environment.
Solder resist is typically 20-30 micrometres thick.

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Screen printing

Line art and text may be printed onto the outer surfaces of a PCB by screen printing.
When space permits, the screen print text can indicate component designators, switch
setting requirements, test points, and other features helpful in assembling, testing, and
servicing the circuit board.

Screen print is also known as the silk screen, or, in one sided PCBs, the red print.

Lately some digital printing solutions have been developed to substitute the traditional
screen printing process. This technology allows printing variable data onto the PCB,
including serialization and barcode information for traceability purposes.

Test

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Unpopulated boards may be subjected to a bare-board test where each circuit connection
(as defined in a netlist) is verified as correct on the finished board. For high-volume
production, a Bed of nails tester, a fixture or a Rigid needle adapter is used to make
contact with copper lands or holes on one or both sides of the board to facilitate testing. A
computer will instruct the electrical test unit to apply a small voltage to each contact
point on the bed-of-nails as required, and verify that such voltage appears at other
appropriate contact points. A "short" on a board would be a connection where there
should not be one; an "open" is between two points that should be connected but are not.
For small- or medium-volume boards, flying probe and flying-grid testers use moving test
heads to make contact with the copper/silver/gold/solder lands or holes to verify the
electrical connectivity of the board under test.

Printed circuit assembly

After the printed circuit board (PCB) is completed, electronic components must be
attached to form a functional printed circuit assembly, or PCA (sometimes called a
"printed circuit board assembly" PCBA). In through-hole construction, component leads
are inserted in holes. In surface-mount construction, the components are placed on pads
or lands on the outer surfaces of the PCB. In both kinds of construction, component leads
are electrically and mechanically fixed to the board with a molten metal solder.

There are a variety of soldering techniques used to attach components to a PCB. High
volume production is usually done with machine placement and bulk wave soldering or
reflow ovens, but skilled technicians are able to solder very tiny parts (for instance 0201
packages which are 0.02 in. by 0.01 in.) by hand under a microscope, using tweezers and
a fine tip soldering iron for small volume prototypes. Some parts are impossible to solder
by hand, such as ball grid array (BGA) packages.

Often, through-hole and surface-mount construction must be combined in a single

assembly because some required components are available only in surface-mount
packages, while others are available only in through-hole packages. Another reason to

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use both methods is that through-hole mounting can provide needed strength for
components likely to endure physical stress, while components that are expected to go
untouched will take up less space using surface-mount techniques.

After the board has been populated it may be tested in a variety of ways:

• While the power is off, visual inspection, automated optical inspection. JEDEC
guidelines for PCB component placement, soldering, and inspection are
commonly used to maintain quality control in this stage of PCB manufacturing.

• While the power is off, analog signature analysis, power-off testing.

• While the power is on, in-circuit test, where physical measurements (i.e. voltage,
frequency) can be done.

WT
• While the power is on, functional test, just checking if the PCB does what it had
been designed for.

To facilitate these tests, PCBs may be designed with extra pads to make temporary
connections. Sometimes these pads must be isolated with resistors. The in-circuit test
may also exercise boundary scan test features of some components. In-circuit test
systems may also be used to program nonvolatile memory components on the board.

In boundary scan testing, test circuits integrated into various ICs on the board form
temporary connections between the PCB traces to test that the ICs are mounted correctly.
Boundary scan testing requires that all the ICs to be tested use a standard test
configuration procedure, the most common one being the Joint Test Action Group
(JTAG) standard. The JTAG test architecture provides a means to test interconnects
between integrated circuits on a board without using physical test probes. JTAG tool
vendors provide various types of stimulus and sophisticated algorithms, not only to detect
the failing nets, but also to isolate the faults to specific nets, devices, and pins.

When boards fail the test, technicians may desolder and replace failed components, a task
known as rework.

Protection and packaging

PCBs intended for extreme environments often have a conformal coating, which is
applied by dipping or spraying after the components have been soldered. The coat
prevents corrosion and leakage currents or shorting due to condensation. The earliest
conformal coats were wax; modern conformal coats are usually dips of dilute solutions of
silicone rubber, polyurethane, acrylic, or epoxy. Another technique for applying a
conformal coating is for plastic to be sputtered onto the PCB in a vacuum chamber. The
chief disadvantage of conformal coatings is that servicing of the board is rendered
extremely difficult.

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Many assembled PCBs are static sensitive, and therefore must be placed in antistatic bags
during transport. When handling these boards, the user must be grounded (earthed).
Improper handling techniques might transmit an accumulated static charge through the
board, damaging or destroying components. Even bare boards are sometimes static
sensitive. Traces have become so fine that it's quite possible to blow an etch off the board
(or change its characteristics) with a static charge. This is especially true on non-
traditional PCBs such as MCMs and microwave PCBs.

Design
• Schematic capture or schematic entry is done through an EDA tool.
• Card dimensions and template are decided based on required circuitry and case of
the PCB. Determine the fixed components and heat sinks if required.
• Deciding stack layers of the PCB. 4 to 12 layers or more depending on design

WT
complexity. Ground plane and Power plane are decided. Signal planes where
signals are routed are in top layer as well as internal layers.
• Line impedance determination using dielectric layer thickness, routing copper
thickness and trace-width. Trace separation also taken into account in case of
differential signals. Microstrip, stripline or dual stripline can be used to route
signals.
• Placement of the components. Thermal considerations and geometry are taken
into account. Vias and lands are marked.
• Routing the signal trace. For optimal EMI performance high frequency signals are
routed in internal layers between power or ground planes as power plane behaves
as ground for AC.
• Gerber file generation for manufacturing.

Safety certification (US)

Safety Standard UL 796 covers component safety requirements for printed wiring boards
for use as components in devices or appliances. Testing analyzes characteristics such as
flammability, maximum operating temperature, electrical tracking, heat deflection, and
direct support of live electrical parts.

"Cordwood" construction

A cordwood module.

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Cordwood construction can save significant space and was often used with wire-ended
components in applications where space was at a premium (such as missile guidance and
telemetry systems) and in high-speed computers, where short traces were important. In
"cordwood" construction, axial-leaded components were mounted between two parallel
planes. The components were either soldered together with jumper wire, or they were
connected to other components by thin nickel ribbon welded at right angles onto the
component leads. To avoid shorting together different interconnection layers, thin
insulating cards were placed between them. Perforations or holes in the cards allowed
component leads to project through to the next interconnection layer. One disadvantage
of this system was that special nickel leaded components had to be used to allow the
interconnecting welds to be made. Some versions of cordwood construction used single
sided PCBs as the interconnection method (as pictured). This meant that normal leaded
components could be used. Another disadvantage of this system is that components
located in the interior are difficult to replace.

WT
Before the advent of integrated circuits, this method allowed the highest possible
component packing density; because of this, it was used by a number of computer
vendors including Control Data Corporation. The cordwood method of construction now
appears to have fallen into disuse, probably because high packing densities can be more
easily achieved using surface mount techniques and integrated circuits.

Multiwire boards
Multiwire is a patented technique of interconnection which uses machine-routed insulated
wires embedded in a non-conducting matrix (often plastic resin). It was used during the
1980s and 1990s. (Kollmorgen Technologies Corp., U.S. Patent 4,175,816) Multiwire is
still available in 2010 through Hitachi. There are other competitive discrete wiring
technologies that have been developed (Jumatech ).

Since it was quite easy to stack interconnections (wires) inside the embedding matrix, the
approach allowed designers to forget completely about the routing of wires (usually a
time-consuming operation of PCB design): Anywhere the designer needs a connection,
the machine will draw a wire in straight line from one location/pin to another. This led to
very short design times (no complex algorithms to use even for high density designs) as
well as reduced crosstalk (which is worse when wires run parallel to each other—which
almost never happens in Multiwire), though the cost is too high to compete with cheaper
PCB technologies when large quantities are needed.

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Surface-mount technology

WT
Surface mount components, including resistors, transistors and an integrated circuit

Surface-mount technology emerged in the 1960s, gained momentum in the early 1980s
and became widely used by the mid 1990s. Components were mechanically redesigned to
have small metal tabs or end caps that could be soldered directly on to the PCB surface.
Components became much smaller and component placement on both sides of the board
became more common than with through-hole mounting, allowing much higher circuit
densities. Surface mounting lends itself well to a high degree of automation, reducing
labour costs and greatly increasing production and quality rates. Carrier Tapes provide a
stable and protective environment for Surface mount devices (SMDs) which can be one-
quarter to one-tenth of the size and weight, and passive components can be one-half to
one-quarter of the cost of corresponding through-hole parts. However, integrated circuits
are often priced the same regardless of the package type, because the chip itself is the
most expensive part. As of 2006, some wire-ended components, such as small-signal
switch diodes, e.g. 1N4148, are actually significantly cheaper than corresponding SMD
versions.

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Chapter-16

Electrical Network and Pre-charge

Electrical network

WT
A simple electric circuit made up of a voltage source and a resistor. Here, V = iR,
according to Ohm's Law.

An electrical network is an interconnection of electrical elements such as resistors,

inductors, capacitors, transmission lines, voltage sources, current sources and switches.
An electrical circuit is a special type of network, one that has a closed loop giving a
return path for the current. Electrical networks that consist only of sources (voltage or
current), linear lumped elements (resistors, capacitors, inductors), and linear distributed
elements (transmission lines) can be analyzed by algebraic and transform methods to
determine DC response, AC response, and transient response.

A network that contains active electronic components is known as an electronic circuit.

Such networks are generally nonlinear and require more complex design and analysis
tools.

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Design methods
To design any electrical circuit, either analog or digital, electrical engineers need to be
able to predict the voltages and currents at all places within the circuit. Linear circuits,
that is, circuits with the same input and output frequency, can be analyzed by hand using
complex number theory. Other circuits can only be analyzed with specialized software
programs or estimation techniques such as the piecewise-linear model.

Circuit simulation software, such as HSPICE, and languages such as VHDL-AMS and
verilog-AMS allow engineers to design circuits without the time, cost and risk of error
involved in building circuit prototypes.

Electrical laws

WT
A number of electrical laws apply to all electrical networks. These include:

• Kirchhoff's current law: The sum of all currents entering a node is equal to the
sum of all currents leaving the node.
• Kirchhoff's voltage law: The directed sum of the electrical potential differences
around a loop must be zero.
• Ohm's law: The voltage across a resistor is equal to the product of the resistance
and the current flowing through it (at constant temperature).
• Norton's theorem: Any network of voltage and/or current sources and resistors is
electrically equivalent to an ideal current source in parallel with a single resistor.
• Thévenin's theorem: Any network of voltage and/or current sources and resistors
is electrically equivalent to a single voltage source in series with a single resistor.

Other more complex laws may be needed if the network contains nonlinear or reactive
components. Non-linear self-regenerative heterodyning systems can be approximated.
Applying these laws results in a set of simultaneous equations that can be solved either
algebraically or numerically.

Network simulation software

More complex circuits can be analyzed numerically with software such as SPICE or
GNUCAP, or symbolically using software such as SapWin.

Linearization around operating point

When faced with a new circuit, the software first tries to find a steady state solution, that
is, one where all nodes conform to Kirchhoff's Current Law and the voltages across and
through each element of the circuit conform to the voltage/current equations governing
that element.

Once the steady state solution is found, the operating points of each element in the
circuit are known. For a small signal analysis, every non-linear element can be linearized

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around its operation point to obtain the small-signal estimate of the voltages and currents.
This is an application of Ohm's Law. The resulting linear circuit matrix can be solved
with Gaussian elimination.

Piecewise-linear approximation

Software such as the PLECS interface to Simulink uses piecewise-linear approximation

of the equations governing the elements of a circuit. The circuit is treated as a completely
linear network of ideal diodes. Every time a diode switches from on to off or vice versa,
the configuration of the linear network changes. Adding more detail to the approximation
of equations increases the accuracy of the simulation, but also increases its running time.

Pre-charge

WT
Peak inrush current into a high voltage capacitor upon power up can stress the
component, reducing its reliability.

Pre-charge of the powerline voltages in a high voltage DC application is a preliminary

mode which current-limits the power source such that a controlled rise time of the system
voltage during power up is achieved.

When a high-voltage system is designed appropriately to handle the flow of maximum

rated power through its distribution system, the components within the system can still
undergo considerable stress upon the system "power up". In some applications, the
occasion to activate the system is a rare occurrence, such as in commercial utility power
distribution which is typically on almost all of the time. Yet in other systems such as in
vehicle applications, activation will occur with every individual use of the system. When

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a long life of the components and a high reliability of the high voltage system is needed,
then a power-up method which reduces and limits the power-up stress is required.

Background: in-rush currents into capacitors

In-rush currents into capacitive components are a key concern in power-up stress to
components. When DC input power is applied to a capacitive load, the step response of
the voltage input will cause the input capacitor to charge. The capacitor charging starts
with an inrush current and ends with an exponential decay down to the steady state
condition. When the magnitude of the inrush peak is very large compared to the
maximum rating of the components, then component stress is to be expected. The current
into a capacitor is known to be I = C(dV / dT): the peak inrush current will depend upon
the capacitance C and the rate of change of the voltage (dV/dT). The inrush current will
increase as the capacitance value increases, and the inrush current will increase as the

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voltage of the power source increases. This second parameter is of primary concern in
high voltage power distribution systems. By their nature, high voltage power sources will
deliver high voltage into the distribution system. Capacitive loads will then be subject to
high inrush currents upon power-up. The stress to the components must be understood
and minimized.

The objective of a pre-charge function is to limit the magnitude of the inrush current into
capacitive loads during power-up. This may take several seconds depending on the
system. In general, higher voltage systems benefit from longer pre-charge times during
power-up.

Peak Inrush Current Into Powerline Capacitors Increases with Power-up dV/dT
Peak In-rush Current at Power-Up of a
11,000 µF Powerline Capacitor 15 A Feed
1 ms 10 ms 100 ms 1s
v = 28 V 310 A 31 A 3.1 A 0.31 A
v = 610 V 6710 A 671A 67A 7A

Color Key:
___ = High Risk of Tripping the Breaker
___ = Careful Selecting the Breaker Rating
___ = Good

Consider an example where a high voltage source powers up a typical electronics control
unit which has an internal power supply with 11000 µF input capacitance. When powered
from a 28 V source, the inrush current into the electronics unit would approach 31
amperes in 10 milliseconds. If that same circuit is activated by a 610 V source, then the

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inrush current would approach 670 A in 10 milliseconds. It is wise not to allow unlimited
inrush currents from high voltage power distribution system activation into capacitive
loads: instead the inrush current should be controlled to avoid power-up stress to
components.

Definition of a pre-charge function

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Precharging a high voltage DC power distribution line can control the inrush current into
capacitive components, reducing stress and supporting a long component life.

The functional requirement of the high voltage pre-charge circuit is to minimize the peak
current out from the power source by slowing down the dV/dT of the input power voltage
such that a new “pre-charge mode” is created. Of course the inductive loads on the
distribution system must be switched off during the precharge mode. While pre-charging,
the system voltage will rise slowly and controllably with power-up current never
exceeding the maximum allowed. As the circuit voltage approaches near steady state,
then the pre-charge function is complete. Normal operation of a pre-charge circuit is to
terminate pre-charge mode when the circuit voltage is 90% or 95% of the operating
voltage. Upon completion of pre-charging, the pre-charge resistance is switched out of
the power supply circuit and returns to a low impedance power source for normal mode.
The high voltage loads are then powered up sequentially.

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The simplest inrush-current limiting system, used in many consumer electronics devices,
is a NTC resistor. When cold, its high resistance allows a small current to pre-charge the
reservoir capacitor. After it warms up, its low resistance more efficiently passes the
working current.

Many active power factor correction systems also include soft start.

If the example circuit from before is used with a pre-charge circuit which limits the
dV/dT to less than 600 volts per second, then the inrush current will be reduced from 670
amperes to 7 amperes. This is a “kinder and gentler” way to activate a high voltage DC
power distribution system.

Benefits of pre-charging

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The primary benefit of avoiding component stress during power-up is to realize a long
system operating life due to reliable and long lasting components.

There are additional benefits: pre-charging reduces the electrical hazards which may
occur when the system integrity is compromised due to hardware damage or failure.
Activating the high voltage DC system into a short circuit or a ground fault or into
unsuspecting personnel and their equipment can have undesired effects. Arc flash will be
minimized if a pre-charge function slows down the activation time of a high voltage
power-up. A slow pre-charge will also reduce the voltage into a faulty circuit which
builds up while the system diagnostics come on-line. This allows a diagnostic shut down
before the fault is fully realized in worst case proportions.

In cases where unlimited inrush current is large enough to trip the source circuit breaker,
a slow precharge may even be required to avoid the nuisance trip.

Pre-charging is commonly used in battery electric vehicle applications. The current to the
motor is regulated by a controller that employs large capacitors in its input circuit. Such
systems typically have contactors (a high-current relay) to disable the system during
inactive periods and to act as an emergency disconnect should the motor current regulator
fail in an active state. Without pre-charge the high voltage across the contactors and
inrush current can cause a brief arc which will cause pitting of the contacts. Pre-charging
the controller input capacitors (typically to 90 to 95 percent of applied battery voltage)
eliminates the pitting problem. The current to maintain the charge is so low that some
systems apply the pre-charge at all times other than when charging batteries, while more
complex systems apply pre-charge as part of the starting sequence and will defer main
contactor closure until the pre-charge voltage level is detected as sufficiently high.

Applications in high voltage power systems

• High-voltage direct current
• Battery Electric Vehicles
• Hybrid Vehicle

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 • Future Combat System
• Motorized bicycle
• Electric power-assist system

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