Electronics engineering,
[1] also referred to as
electronic engineering,
[2][3] 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 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.
[4][verification needed]
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.
[5] 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.
[6][7]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.
[8]
Electronics
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 (see
electronic design automation) 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.
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.
[22][23]
Electromagnetics
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.
[26] 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.
[28][29] 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.
[30] 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 spectral density, function analogy between vectors & functions.
[33][34]
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.
[35][36]
Communications
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, bandwidth consideration and probability of error calculations for these schemes,
GSM,
TDMA.
[37][38]
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.
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.
Overview of electronic engineering
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.
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 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 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.
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.
