CHAPTER1

IntroductiontoElectronics

Perhapsthemostcommonpredicamentnewcomersfacewhenlearningelectronicsis
figuringoutexactlywhatitistheymustlearn.Whattopicsareworthcovering,andin
whichgeneralordershouldtheybecovered?Agoodstartingpointforansweringthese
questionsistheflowchartpresentedinFig.1.1.Thischartprovidesanoverviewofthe
basicelementsthatgointodesigningpracticalelectricalgadgetsandrepresentsthe
informationyouwillfindinthisbook.Thischapterintroducesthesebasicelements.
 FIGURE1.1

Atthetopofthechartcomesthetheory.Thisinvolveslearningaboutvoltage,current,
resistance,capacitance,inductance,andvariouslawsandtheoremsthathelppredict
thesizeanddirectionofvoltagesandcurrentswithincircuits.Asyoulearnthebasic
theory,youwillbeintroducedtobasicpassivecomponentssuchasresistors,
capacitors,inductors,andtransformers.
Nextdownthelinearediscretepassivecircuits.Discretepassivecircuitsinclude
currentlimitingnetworks,voltagedividers,filtercircuits,attenuators,andsoon.
Thesesimplecircuits,bythemselves,arenotveryinteresting,buttheyarevital
ingredientsinmorecomplexcircuits.
Afteryouhavelearnedaboutpassivecomponentsandcircuits,youmoveonto
discreteactivedevices,whicharebuiltfromsemiconductormaterials.Thesedevices
consistmainlyofdiodes(onewaycurrentflowgates)andtransistors(electrically
controlledswitches/amplifiers).
Onceyouhavecoveredthediscreteactivedevices,yougettodiscreteactive/passive
circuits.Someofthesecircuitsincluderectifiers(actodcconverters),amplifiers,
oscillators,modulators,mixers,andvoltageregulators.Thisiswherethingsstart
gettinginteresting.
Throughoutyourstudyofelectronics,youwilllearnaboutvariousinput/output(I/O)
devices(transducers).Inputdevices(sensors)convertphysicalsignals,suchassound,
light,andpressure,intoelectricalsignalsthatcircuitscanuse.Thesedevicesinclude
microphones,phototransistors,switches,keyboards,thermistors,straingauges,
generators,andantennas.Outputdevicesconvertelectricalsignalsintophysical
signals.Outputdevicesincludelamps,LEDandLCDdisplays,speakers,buzzers,
motors(dc,servo,andstepper),solenoids,andantennas.TheseI/Odevicesallow
humansandcircuitstocommunicatewithoneanother.
Tomakethingseasieronthecircuitdesigner,manufacturershavecreatedintegrated
circuits(ICs),whichcontaindiscretecircuits(liketheonesmentionedintheprevious
paragraph)thatarecrammedontoatinychipofsilicon.Thechipisusuallyhoused
withinaplasticpackage,wherelittleinternalwireslinkthechiptoexternalmetal
terminals.ICssuchasamplifiersandvoltageregulatorsarereferredtoasanalog
devices,whichmeansthattheyrespondtoandproducesignalsofvaryingdegreesof
voltage.(ThisisunlikedigitalICs,whichworkwithonlytwovoltagelevels.)Becoming
familiarwithICsisanecessityforanypracticalcircuitdesigner.
Digitalelectronicscomesnext.Digitalcircuitsworkwithonlytwovoltage
states:high(suchas5V)orlow(suchas0V).Thereasonforhavingonlytwovoltage
stateshastodowiththeeaseofprocessingdata(numbers,symbols,andcontrol
information)andstorage.Theprocessofencodinginformationintosignalsthatdigital
circuitscanuseinvolvescombiningbits(1sand0s,equivalent
tohighandlowvoltages)intodiscretemeaningwords.Thedesignerdictateswhat
thesewordswillmeantoaspecificcircuit.Unlikeanalogelectronics,digital
electronicsusesawholenewsetofcomponents,whichattheheartareallintegrated
inform.
AhugenumberofspecializedICsareusedindigitalelectronics.SomeoftheseICsare
designedtoperformlogicaloperationsoninputinformationothersaredesignedto
countwhilestillothersaredesignedtostoreinformationthatcanberetrievedlater
on.DigitalICsincludelogicgates,flipflops,shiftregisters,counters,memories,
processors,andsoon.Digitalcircuitsarewhatgiveelectricalgadgetsbrains.In
orderfordigitalcircuitstointeractwithanalogcircuits,specialanalogtodigital
(A/D)conversioncircuitsareneededtoconvertanalogsignalsintostringsof1sand
0s.Likewise,digitaltoanalogconversioncircuitsareusedtoconvertstringsof1sand
0sintoanalogsignals.
Withanunderstandingoftheprincipalsbehinddigitalelectronics,wearefreeto
exploretheworldofmicrocontrollers.Theseareprogrammabledigitalelectronicsthat
canreadvaluesfromsensorsandcontroloutputdevicesusingtheI/Opins,allona
singleICcontrolledbyalittleprogram.
Andmixedinamongallthisisthepracticalsideofelectronics.Thisinvolveslearning
toreadschematicdiagrams,constructingcircuitprototypesusingbreadboards,
testingprototypes(usingmultimeters,oscilloscopes,andlogicprobes),revising
prototypes(ifneeded),andconstructingfinalcircuitsusingvarioustoolsandspecial
circuitboards.
Inthenextchapter,wewillstartatthebeginningbylookingatthetheoryof
electronics.