Handbook

Physical electronic circuits and systems are plagued by a number of undesired effects that the designer need be aware of in order to implement operational electronics. Electrical noise and non-linearity, for instance, limit signal dynamic range; dynamic power supply currents can lead to corruption of digital data; electromagnetic interference (EMI) can cause system malfunction; parasitic components limit the operating frequencies of all circuits. Modern electronic systems, such as laptops and mobile phones, are actually extraordinarily difficult to implement. The Electronics course introduces you to a number of important undesired effects of electronic systems and ways to deal with these; also, it introduces some more advanced circuit functions.

Course content includes: Non-ideal effects in electronic circuits and systems: noise; device noise, external noise, CMRR, PSRR, mixed A/D. Distortion; non-linearity, dynamic range, saturation. Stability and performance sensitivity to parameter variations. Some simple design for stability and performance. Design optimisation. Power-supply distribution and decoupling. Mixed analogue/digital system design, including grounding, shielding and interfacing. Circuit modelling with SPICE. Data sheet interpretation. Design of analogue and digital circuits and system components: non-linear circuits; oscillators, PLLs, multipliers, AGCs, Schmitt triggers. Introduction to filter design; active filters; op-amp. Sensors and actuators, PTAT; instrumentation amplifiers and signal conditioning. Gate delay, power dissipation, noise margins, fan-out. Thermal consideration, power supplies and power sources, reliability, uC watchdogs.  ESD. Transmission lines.