Mathematical Handbook for Electrical Engineers [Book Review]

This book consists of three parts. Part I contains the most widely used fundamental mathematical definitions, laws, and rules that are used to solve the majority of electrical engineering problems. Part II contains solved examples in four different areas of electrical engineering: circuits and devices; antennas and propagation; waveforms and signal processing; and stochastic radio engineering. The majority of the problems fall in the later category. Part III contains reference data on all sorts of mathematical expressions. Engineers, especially electrical engineers who work with mathematical problems either on a regular basis or infrequently, would find this book to be a useful resource for setting up and solving problems.     

Teaching low-power electronic design in electrical and computer engineering

Because of the continuous scaling of feature size and the increasing demand of mobile communication devices, power dissipation has become a major concern of integrated circuit design. Students in electrical and computer engineering will find it very helpful to learn low-power circuit design techniques before they enter the workforce. This work introduces several fundamental low-power design techniques and provides some examples to help students understand design methodologies.     

Electronic Circuit Analysis and Design by Driving-Point Impedance Techniques

By using driving point impedance (DPI) techniques a systematic approach to the analysis of electronic circuits can be developed which helps the engineer gain insight into circuit action. The answers, representing the circuit's currents, voltages, gains, and driving-point impedances, are written down by inspection of the original circuit diagram without resorting to equivalent circuits of flow graphs. The resulting answers are in a most simple form which can be easily interpreted by inexperienced persons since the relative magnitude of each factor is known. Thus, the student rapidly obtains a "feel" for electronic circuits. The method can also be used to complement a computer-aided circuit design and analysis. A tutorial treatment of the fundamental methods is presented and two examples are given. The simple example, which is complex by ordinary standards, has five input signals and three active elements; yet the output signal voltage is written out by inspection with each step explained. The second example, a two-stage transistor feedback amplifier, is used to demonstrate how the fundamental concepts are applied to complex feedback circuits. The gain, input impedance, and output impedance of the feedback amplifier are found and approximations are used to compare the answers to ordinary solutions given for such amplifiers. The answers obtained by DPI analysis methods are also compared to equivalent answers found by node analysis.     

Global and local parametric diagnosis of analog short‐channel CMOS circuits using homotopy‐simplicial algorithm

The paper offers an algorithm for local and global parametric diagnosis in nonlinear analog circuits, including both identification of the faulty parameters and determination their values. The algorithm exploits a nonlinear algebraic type test equations which may possess multiple solutions, corresponding to different sets of the parameters values which meet the test. To find the solutions, the homotopy concept is applied. Since the test equation is not given in explicit analytical form, the simplicial method is used to trace the homotopy path. The proposed approach can be applied to a broad class of analog circuits, including the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor circuits fabricated in nanometer technology. The developed diagnostic procedure has been implemented in DELPHI, whereas the required by the algorithm repeated circuit analyses are carried out using IsSPICE 4 and both environments have been joined together. For illustration, two numerical examples are given. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Plasma etching and plasma physics experiments for the undergraduatemicroelectronics course

Many universities offer lecture/laboratory courses on the processing of microelectronic circuits; these courses are designed to introduce electrical or chemical engineering students to the fundamentals of integrated circuit (IC) fabrication. Given the nearly universal adoption of plasma processing by the IC industry, experiments with plasmas are a necessary addition to this type of course. In this paper, a modified microelectronics laboratory sequence is described which incorporates two new experiments. In the first experiment, students study the fundamental nature of plasmas used for materials processing. This is followed by a second experiment designed to investigate the effects of plasma reactor parameters on the resulting etch. These experiments can be performed on minimally modified industrial-type plasma etching reactors. The experiments described may be easily implemented at universities with a microelectronics fabrication program or course, and may also be applicable for training in an industrial setting. The goal of these two experiments is to give the student preparing for employment in an IC fabrication environment broad exposure to the fundamental physics of low-pressure plasmas, in addition to some knowledge of the impact of reactor settings on the quality of the resulting etch     

具有非标准变比变压器的参数计算

文章论述了电网分析计算中变压器参数的计算方法。变压器的等值电路在一般计算程序中的三种表示法,同一台变压器三种等值电路中需给出不同的参数。按常规方法计算的同一参数提供给不同等值电路的计算程序,有时会带来一定的误差,文章分析了产生误差的同时,可供计算分析人员参考。     

Bridging the gap between digital circuits and microprocessors

Most electrical and computer engineering students understand digital circuits and microprocessors, but fail to appreciate that a microprocessor is just a complex finite state machine. The authors present a three experiment sequence which takes the students from the design of a simple EEPROM-based finite state machine through a two-chip microsequencer to a 4-bit central processing unit (CPU)     

A method for fast simulation of multiple catastrophic faults in analogue circuits

The paper offers an efficient method for simulation of multiple catastrophic faults in linear AC circuits. The faulty elements are either open circuits or short circuits. The method exploits the well‐known Householder formula in matrix theory to find the node voltages deviations due to the perturbations of some circuit elements. The main achievement of the paper is a systematic method for performing the simulation of all combinations of the multiple catastrophic faults. The method includes two new procedures enabling us to find very efficiently the node impedance matrix of the nominal circuit and inverses of some matrices corresponding to different fault combinations. The procedures are the crucial point of this approach and make it very efficient. Consequently, the amount of the computing power needed to carry out all the simulations is significantly reduced. Numerical examples illustrating the proposed approach are provided. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The use of equivalent electronic circuits in simulatingphysiological processes

This paper is a report on one of the modern approaches to teaching physiology to postgraduate medical students. The aim is to promote qualitative as well as quantitative analog thinking about physiological processes. To meet this aim the concept of equivalent electronic circuits was introduced in teaching. Two examples of simulation of physiological phenomena by equivalent electronic circuits are described: (1) a pump for building-up the concentration gradient of a solute and (2) drug distribution in body compartments after single or repeated administration and extracellular volume measurement. The use of the latter circuit in teaching was tested in two generations of postgraduate medical students. They showed an increasing interest for this type of teaching because simulation graphs were almost identical to those shown in textbooks and physicians manuals     

Analysis of the modified MOS Wilson current mirror: a pedagogicalexercise in signal flow graphs, Mason's gain rule, and driving-pointimpedance techniques

A pedagogical analysis of the modified MOS Wilson current mirror using signal flow graphs (SFGs), Mason's gain rule and driving-point impedance (DPI) techniques is presented as an exercise for undergraduate electrical engineering students learning to analyze transistor-level circuits with multiple-feedback loops. While students often prefer the SFG representation for single feedback loops, they often abandon it in favor of the more familiar nodal analysis methods for multiple loops. Yet these methods can be long and cumbersome and contribute little to intuition. In an attempt to preserve the intuitive grasp of tradeoffs, this paper presents an exercise of several well-established analytical techniques for generating and analyzing SFGs. The modified Wilson current mirror is used to compare three analytical approaches: (1) fundamental laws with brute-force algebra; (2) fundamental laws with Mason's gain rule; and (3) DPI technique with Mason's gain rule. The concepts reinforced in this paper include: (1) tradeoffs between gain and other quantities such as output resistance or bandwidth; (2) how Mason's gain rule simplifies the analysis of closed-loop gain; and (3) how DPI techniques simplify the generation of SFGs     

Undergraduate Instruction in Bipolar Integrated Circuit Design and Fabrication Using "Masterslice" Integrated Circuits

Few undergraduate students have the opportunity for actual laboratory experience fabricating solid-state devices. In this paper we describe the integrated circuit fabrication technique used in our undergraduate integrated electronic circuit design course which allows students to not only learn the theory of integrated circuit design but to actually implement their own designs as integrated circuits; all in a one-quarter three-credit course. Thus, valuable industrially relevant experience is obtained by these undergraduate students at a reasonably low cost to the department.     

The bilinear transformation in microwaves: a unified approach

Probably the first encounter of a student of microwave circuits with a bilinear transformation takes place when he studies impedance transformation and matching. Later, when he advances in the study of high frequencies, he will find this kind of transformation in issues like synthesis of signal separation structures and n-port reflectometer calibration and measurement. However, for each appearing transformation, there is generally an individual treatment with no connection to the others, and with a minimum interpretation of its geometrical significance, which impedes a thorough appraisal of generalized transformation attributes. In order to give a global perspective of bilinear transformation uses in microwaves, this paper presents a unified notion and includes geometrical exegesis for some particular applications. In this way, the bilinear transformations between parameters, parameter matrices, and matrix eigenvalues related to microwaves are presented in a congruous and connected form. These transformations are single-valued functional relations of a complex variable between immittance (impedance and admittance) and reflection coefficient parameters, reflection coefficient and power parameters, and immittance and scattering parameters     

Project-oriented adjustable speed motor drive course for undergraduate curricula

Adjustable speed motor drive design requires knowledge of various electrical and mechanical fundamentals. The theories of these fundamental topics are very well addressed in different courses during the undergraduate level of a typical electrical engineering education. Furthermore, related laboratory courses help students to improve their practical skills to some extent. Since they find experimental equipment ready to use, product development skills with group work cannot be improved in laboratories. Also, these separate courses and their associated laboratories regarding fundamentals, such as power electronics, electric machines, electric circuits, electronics, dynamics, and thermal analysis, are independent courses, and students usually cannot find a chance to apply all these fundamentals to a single problem before starting their professional career. This paper summarizes a project-oriented adjustable speed drive design course suitable for senior electrical engineering undergraduate students. The project was divided into several subsystems, and each subsystem was assigned to a group of students among 28 enrolled students. The paper gives enough details for each subsystem to develop an induction motor drive system.     

Parametric macromodeling based on amplitude and frequency scaled systems with guaranteed passivity

We propose a novel parametric macromodeling method for systems described by scattering parameters, which depend on multiple design variables such as geometrical layout or substrate features. It is able to build accurate multivariate macromodels that are stable and passive over the entire design space. Poles and residues are parameterized indirectly. The proposed method is based on an efficient and reliable combination of rational identification, a procedure to find amplitude and frequency scaling system coefficients and positive interpolation schemes. Pertinent numerical examples validate the proposed parametric macromodeling technique. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Extending Quine-McCluskey for Exclusive-Or logic synthesis

Various forms of Boolean minimization have been used within electronic engineering degrees as a key part of the syllabus. Typically, Karnaugh maps and Quine-McCluskey methods are the principal exhaustive search techniques for digital minimization at the undergraduate level as they are easy to use and simple to understand. Despite the popularity of these methods, they are not well suited to typical digital circuits. Simple examples of such circuits are parity, adders, gray code generators, and so on. The common factor among these is the Exclusive-Or logic gate. This problem is exacerbated by the increasing importance of Exclusive-Or in modern design. This paper proposes an extension to the Quine-McCluskey method which successfully incorporates Exclusive-Or gates within the minimization process. A number of examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach. This technique is easy to master as it can be considered to be an extension to the Quine-McCluskey method     

Learning about chaotic circuits with SPICE

A study of chaotic circuits is of educational value, both to students and to practicing engineers. Ten circuits that behave chaotically are simulated with SPICE, starting with simple abstract systems and preceding, via familiar circuits such as the monostable and the tuned amplifier, to a controlled DC-DC power converter. The examples show a variety of ways in which chaos can arise in analog electronic circuits. It is shown how SPICE may be used to produce Poincare sections of strange attractors, and bifurcation diagrams     

The QP Triangle: A Graphical Method for Bias Design

A graphical design procedure is presented based upon a QP triangle for the design of bipolar transistor (BJT) bias circuits. The design technique stresses quiescent point (QP) location on the IC-VCE characteristics and considers the effects of simultaneous variations in the BJT parameters hFE, VBE, and ICO upon QP location. The QP triangle method is developed for the standard one-battery BJT CE stage discussed in many introductory electronic circuits textbooks. The QP triangle method is applied to a specific CE stage which has to meet certain design specifications. One important specification is that the circuit must operate over the temperature range 25-100°C with silicon N-P-N BJT's having values of h 40 and hFE 100°C) < 200. The available tradeoffs between the peak-to-peak voltage Vpp and the current gain AI are stressed and the best available design is selected. The performance of the selected design was simulated on a digital computer and measured in the laboratory. Both the computer simulation and the experiment are in good agreement with the design. The QP triangle method has been used in an introductory electronic circuits course with success for several years. Students understand this graphical design procedure and are able to apply it. It is recommended for beginning electronics students. An interactive computer program AMPDSN to aid students and instructors design the standard one-battery BJT CE stage is also described. An algorithm based upon the QP triangle is used. The program language is Basic.     

Optical-mode transformer: a III-V circuit integration enabler

Further development in optical fiber communications at 1.3 and 1.5 μm not only requires the improvement of components, but also hinges on the capability to fabricate optoelectronic circuits on a mass scale. Hybrid and monolithic integration of these components are expected to yield the means to mass produce optoelectronic circuits with the required characteristics. Effort is currently deployed to find simplified ways to optically interconnect such diverse components as lasers, modulators, waveguides, switches, filters and detectors, either by fiber pigtailing, hybridization on a Si-motherboard; or by monolithic integration on a single chip of InP. In this paper, emphasis is placed on the efficiency of optical-mode transformer (OMT) as a versatile solution to overcome the main technological obstacles of optical interconnection between InP-based components. A few examples will highlight the enabling qualities for fiber pigtailing and photonic integration     

Soft computing‐based approach for optimal design of on‐chip comparator and folded‐cascode op‐amp using colliding bodies optimization

This paper presents an efficient approach for the optimal designs of two analog circuits, namely complementary metal oxide semiconductor) two‐stage comparator with p‐channel metal oxide semiconductor input driver and n‐channel input and folded‐cascode operational amplifier using a recently proposed meta‐heuristic‐based optimization algorithm named as colliding bodies optimization (CBO). It is a multi‐agent algorithm that does not depend upon any internal control parameter, making the algorithm extremely simple. The main objective of this paper is to optimize the metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors' sizes using CBO in order to reduce the areas occupied by the circuits and to get better performance parameters of the circuits. Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis simulation has been carried out by using the optimal values of MOS transistors' sizes and other design parameters to validate that CBO‐based design is satisfying the desired specifications. Simulation results demonstrate that the design specifications are closely met and the required functionalities are achieved. The simulation results also confirm that the CBO‐based approach is superior to the other algorithms in terms of MOS area and performance parameters like gain, power dissipation, etc., for the examples considered. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Transmission Line as a Simple Example for Introducing Integral Equations to Undergraduates

Integral equations are becoming a common means for describing problems in electromagnetics, and so it is important to expose students to methods for their solution. Typically this is done using examples in antennas, scattering, or electrostatics. Unfortunately, many difficult issues arise in the formulation and solution of the associated equations. It is instead proposed to use examples from transmission lines, a topic with which undergraduate students are both familiar and comfortable. In this paper, the formulations of integral equations for both uniform and nonuniform lines are undertaken, simple moment-method solutions are implemented, and the accuracies of the solutions are explored.