Electronics Engineering

Electronic(s) engineering is a sub-discipline of electrical engineering which emerged in the early

20th century and is distinguished by the additional use of active components such as semiconductor
devices to amplify and control electric current flow. Previously electrical engineering only used
passive devices such as mechanical switches, resistors, inductors, and capacitors.
It covers fields such as: analog electronics, digital electronics, consumer electronics, embedded
systems and power electronics. It is also involved in many related fields, for example solid-state
physics, radio engineering, telecommunications, control systems, signal processing, systems
engineering, computer engineering, instrumentation engineering, electric power control,
and robotics.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is one of the most important professional
bodies for electronics engineers in the US; the equivalent body in the UK is the Institution of
Engineering and Technology (IET). The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) publishes
electrical standards including those for electronics engineering.

History and development[edit]

Main article: History of electronic engineering
Main article: Electronics
Electronics engineering as a profession emerged following the identification of the electron in 1897
and the subsequent invention of the vacuum tube which could amplify and rectify small electrical
signals, that inaugurated the field of electronics.[1] Practical applications started with the invention of
the diode by Ambrose Fleming and the triode by Lee De Forest in the early 1900s, which made the
detection of small electrical voltages such as radio signals from a radio antenna possible with a non-
mechanical device. The growth of electronics was rapid. By the early 1920s, commercial radio
broadcasting and communications were becoming widespread and electronic amplifiers were being
used in such diverse applications as long-distance telephony and the music recording industry.
The discipline was further enhanced by the large amount of electronic systems development
during World War II in such as radar and sonar, and the subsequent peace-time consumer
revolution.

Specialist areas[edit]
Electronics engineering has many subfields. This section describes some of the most popular.
Electronic 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 and the modulation and demodulation of radio frequency signals
for telecommunications. For digital signals, signal processing may involve compression, error
checking and error detection, and correction.
Telecommunications engineering deals with the transmission of information across a medium
such as a co-axial cable, an optical fiber, or free space. Transmissions across free space require
information to be encoded in a carrier wave in order to be transmitted, this is known as modulation.
Popular analog modulation techniques include amplitude modulation and frequency modulation.
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.
Aviation-electronics engineering and Aviation-telecommunications engineering, are
concerned with aerospace applications. Aviation-telecommunication engineers include specialists
who work on airborne avionics in the aircraft or ground equipment. Specialists in this field mainly
need knowledge of computer, networking, IT, and sensors. These courses are offered at such
as Civil Aviation Technology Colleges.[2][3]
Control engineering has a wide range of electronic 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 use feedback when designing control
systems.
Instrumentation engineering deals with the design of devices to measure physical quantities such
as pressure, flow, and temperature.The design of such instrumentation requires a good
understanding of electronics engineering and physics; 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.[4]
Computer engineering deals with the design of computers and computer systems. This may
involve the design of new computer hardware, the design of PDAs or the use of computers to control
an industrial plant. Development of embedded systems—systems made for specific tasks (e.g.,
mobile phones)—is also included in this field. This field includes the microcontroller and its
applications. 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 falls under computer
science, which is usually considered a separate discipline.
VLSI design engineering VLSI stands for very large scale integration. It deals with fabrication of
ICs and various electronic components. 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.

Education and training[edit]

Main article: Education and training of electrical and electronics engineers
Electronics is a subfield within the wider electrical engineering academic subject. Electronics
engineers typically possess an academic degree with a major in electronics 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 the graduate level.
Some electronics engineers also choose to pursue a postgraduate degree such as a Master of
Science, Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, or an Engineering Doctorate. The master's 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. Certification allows engineers to
legally sign off on plans for projects affecting public safety.[5] 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 and New Zealand) or European Engineer (in much of
the European Union).
A degree in electronics generally includes units covering physics, chemistry, mathematics, project
management and specific topics in electrical engineering. Initially, such topics cover most, if not all,
of the subfields of electronics engineering. Students then choose to specialize in one or more
subfields towards the end of the degree.
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 embedded systems.
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. This list does not include the extensive engineering
mathematics curriculum that is a prerequisite to a degree.[6][7]

Supporting knowledge areas[edit]

The huge breadth of electronics engineering has led to the use of a large number of specialist
supporting knowledge areas.
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; 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.[8][9]
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.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12][13]
Analog circuits: Equivalent circuits (large and small-signal) of diodes, BJT, 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.[14]
Digital circuits: Boolean functions (NOT, AND, OR, XOR,...). 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.[15][16]
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, and function analogy between vectors & functions.[17][18]
Electronic Control systems[edit]
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 (PID) control. Discretization of
continuous-time systems using zero-order hold 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.[19][20]
Communications[edit]
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 – 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.[21][22]

Professional bodies[edit]
Professional bodies of note for electrical engineers USA's Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) and the UK's Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). Members of the
Institution of Engineering and Technology (MIET) are recognized professionally in Europe, as
electrical and computer engineers. The IEEE claims to produce 30 percent of the world's literature in
electrical and electronics engineering, has over 430,000 members, and holds more than 450 IEEE
sponsored or cosponsored conferences worldwide each year. SMIEEE is a recognised professional
designation in the United States.

Project engineering[edit]
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.
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, 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, which is even more crucial in the field of
consumer electronics products.[23]

See also