Course detail

Design of Electronic Circuits

FEKT-BPA-DECAcad. year: 2022/2023

The course discusses passive and active components for electronic circuits, describing the principles, properties, and applications of such items and proposing an insight into their fundamental production ranges. The topics analyzed comprise, among other issues, the basic layouts of analog circuits with bi- and unipolar transistors and operational amplifiers; in the given context, the relevant parameters, properties, and target applications are also introduced. The proper choice of suitable components is generally emphasized as a vital part of the operational chain. Further, the lectures and tutorials characterize the designing of electronic circuits from the perspectives of their feeding, minimization of spurious effects, and cooling of individual segments. The principles of circuit structuring are outlined, with a particular focus on the fabrication and mounting of printed circuit boards, devices cooling, and transient voltages suppressing.
The practices and laboratories are conceived to teach circuit designing and the choice of applicable components, enabling the students to examine the properties of typical circuits with transistors and operational amplifiers.  

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

6

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

doc. Ing. Miloslav Steinbauer, Ph.D.

Department

Department of Theoretical and Experimental Electrical Engineering (UTEE)

Offered to foreign students

Of all faculties

Learning outcomes of the course unit

The classes will acquaint the students with the fundamental range of passive and active components for analog electronic circuits, thus enabling them to reliably use catalog data in selecting suitable components for a given application and to recognize the functional principles related to various circuit elements. Upon completing the course, the students will be able to practice the typical circuit layouts comprising bipolar/unipolar transistors and operational amplifiers; design simple analog electronic circuits, including their power supply units; employ a simulator to verify the properties of the designed circuit and, if necessary, to optimize the parameters needed; seek and eliminate problems in the actual design of circuits and printed circuit boards; and to outline applicable solutions for signal and supply wiring, together with a convenient approach to conduct away the heat generated by power components. 

Prerequisites

Good knowledge of the topics discussed within Electrical Engineering 1 and 2 is required, and a basic precursory insight into the physics of semiconductors may help the students substantially to reach successful completion of the course.

Co-requisites

Not applicable.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Teachning methods include lectures, practices, and laboratories. Course is taking advantage of e-learning system. 

Assesment methods and criteria linked to learning outcomes

Total number of points is 100, including 30 points in written tests in exercises and 70 points in final exam. To obtain examination it is necessary to obtain 15 from maximum 30 points in test. Requirements for completion of a course are: to gain examination and to perform a final written test. Minimal necessary achieved total mark to pass this course is 50 points.

Course curriculum

1. Passive electronic components. Real passive components: resistors; capacitors; coils; transformers. Parasitic properties; equivalent circuits; fields of application; noise. The reliability of real components.
2. P-N junction and diodes. The P-N junction in the forward and reverse directions. Current transfer in the forward and reverse directions. The P-N junction capacitance and AV characteristics. The P-N junction breakdown. Diodes: the rectifying, stabilizing, Schottky, transient-voltage-suppression, and other types.
3. Bipolar transistors (BTs): structures, operational modes, and models. BTs and their characteristics. The basic CE, CC, and CB configurations and the related properties. The limiting parameters of BTs. The biasing of BTs.
4. Unipolar transistors (FETs): structures, operational modes, and models. FETs compared with BTs. The basic properties of J-FETs and MOSFETs. Power transistors. IGBTs: structures and properties.
5. Transistor circuits. Bipolar transistor voltage amplifiers with the CE configuration: biasing, voltage amplification, and input resistance. A-, B-, and AB-class amplifiers. Capacitances in transistor amplifiers (the Miller effect). Emitter followers. Differential amplifiers with BTs. BTs used as switches. BTs as current sources. Current mirrors. The Darlington connection. FETs as amplifiers. The properties and applications of FETs as switches: analog switches; multiplexers; digital switches. FETs as controlled resistors.
6. Operational amplifiers (OAs). Ideal operational amplifiers: the basic characteristics. The properties of real OAs (input currents; input voltage asymmetry; voltage amplification; cut-off frequency; output impedance; common mode voltage suppression). Feedback. Circuit stability. Inverting and non-inverting connections. The properties of OAs with BT and FET input circuits. Operating principles.
7. Circuits with OAs. Differential and summing amplifiers with OAs; followers. Instrumentation amplifiers. Isolation amplifiers. Active rectifiers with OAs. Differential and summing amplifiers. Comparators; comparators with hysteresis. C/V converters; functional converters. Oscillators with OAs. Active frequency filters.
8. Voltage and current stabilizers. Rectifiers and filters in power supply units. Parametric voltage stabilizers. Linear voltage stabilizers. Voltage references. Fixed and settable linear integrated voltage stabilizers. Current stabilizers. Switched stabilizers: principles, basic layouts, and properties.
9. Application rules in design of analog electronic circuits. Selecting the components, and using the application rules. Feeding and grounding real circuits. Signal distribution. Parasitic effects and their suppression. The voltage and current derating of components. Overvoltage and overload protection. Cooling of electronic components. Frequent analog circuit design errors.
10. Assembling technologies and printed circuits. Printed circuits: designing principles, procedures, and errors; assembling methods. Soldering procedures and errors.
11. Optoelectronic components. Semiconductor photodetectors: photoresistor; photodiode, PIN and avalanche diode. LED and laser diodes.  Optocoupler.
12. Generators and oscillators. Multivibrators. Feedback and regenerative oscillators.
13. Special components: varistors; thermistor; photoresistor; Peltier cell. Multiple junction devices - Thyristor: basic structures, functions, AV characteristics, and equivalent circuit. Turning on and off. Special types of thyristors. Triac: principles and applications. Diac and Trisil. 

 

Work placements

Not applicable.

Aims

The aim of the subject is to provide the students with the knowledge of multiple topics, including real electronic components and their properties or applications; basic analog circuits with transistors and operational amplifiers; and power supplies for electronic circuits. The classes also outline practical rules for the designing of electronic circuits and devices.

Specification of controlled education, way of implementation and compensation for absences

Not applicable.

Recommended optional programme components

Not applicable.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

BOYLESTAD, R. L. Introductory Circuit Analysis (13th Edition). Pearson 2015. ISBN 978-1292098951 (EN)
HOROWITZ, P.; HILL, W. The Art of Electronics (2nd Edition). Cambridge University Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-521-37095-7 (EN)
LINEAR TECHNOLOGY: Analog Circuit Design - A Tutorial Guide to Applications and Solutions. Linear Technology, 2011. ISBN 978-0-12-385185-7 (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Elearning

eLearning: currently opened course

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme BPA-ELE Bachelor's

    specialization BPA-ECT , 2 year of study, summer semester, compulsory
    specialization BPA-PSA , 2 year of study, summer semester, compulsory

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hod., optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. Ing. Miloslav Steinbauer, Ph.D.

Exercise in computer lab

26 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. Ing. Miloslav Steinbauer, Ph.D.

Syllabus

1. Circuit simulator MicroCap - introduction
2. MicroCap - More advanced analytics and program features
3. MicroCap - signal generators, signal analysis, mathematical functions, graphs
4. Rectifiers and power filters.
5. Parametric voltage stabilizers. Overvoltage protection when switching inductive load.
6. Amplifiers with BP and FET, biasing, amplification and input resistance.
7. Transistor as a switch. Switching speed.
8. Thyristor and Triac. Phase regulation.
9. Simple circuit design, simulation and optimization in MicroCap.
10. Practical design of PCB in Eagle system
11. Simulation of OA applications. Noise analysis.
12. Frequency filters
13. Credit test

Laboratory exercise

13 hod., compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

doc. Ing. Miloslav Steinbauer, Ph.D.

Syllabus

1. Organization. Rules of work in the laboratory.
2. Work with measuring instruments, rules of use.
3. Passive and active rectifier and their properties
4. Power sources - measurement of the linear voltage source
5. Constant current source.
6. Bipolar transistor amplifiers, biasing, amplification and input resistance.
7. Transistor as a switch
8. Thyristor and Triac. Phase power regulation.
9. Switching source – flyback converter
10. SMT and THT soldering practices.
11. Practical implementation: assembly of mixed circuit technology (SMT, THT)
12. Practical realization: functional test, measurement of the parameters
13. Practical realization: comparison of achieved parameters with simulation, evaluation.

Elearning

eLearning: currently opened course