The course was tested last fall (2008) and will be revised significantly for this Fall (2009). This web page is presently under modification.
Prerequisites: ECE35 and 45 are required. ECE65 is recommended but not required.
9 November: The second midterm and solutions are here.
3 November: The first midterm and solutions are here, and here.
29 October: A couple of students have proposed a group study session. This seems like a good idea. Their note is below.
We want to start a group study talking about the problems we have in class or in the problem set and preparing for the coming midterm. For the first time we hope to meet on next Monday evening, during the normal lab time(6-9 pm) in Pspice lab. We hope to collect problems from everybody and then disscuss the methods and solutions together. We can decide when and where the following discussion will be according to how many people are interested in the group study. Would you please post the message on the website and everyone is welcome to come and join in the discussion on the day.
(Alvin) Jihang Li;
University of California, San Diego & Beijing Institute of Technology;
E-mail:alvin_ljh@163.com
A page of notes on how to compute the impulse response for second order systems is here, and the step response is here.
To transfer a trace from a pspice simulation to matlab, select the trace in the plot window. Then do "COPY" ; open notepad ; and "PASTE" it in. You will see a column of frequencies and then as many columns of data as you have selected. You can save the file with a name.txt and read it into matlab as a matrix. To do this right-click on the file name in matlab and select import data as text. It will normally be called data. The frequency is f = data(:,1); the first trace would be hsq = data(:,2); then you can plot and overplot as you like.
This morning in the lecture I showed how to calculate the input resistors, but used an incorrect number for -1dB. The factor 0.7943 is the power ratio that corresponds to -1dB. However in the calculation I used it for the voltage ratio. The voltage ratio is sqrt(.7943) = 0.8912 so what I wrote on the board was wrong. The squared magnitude of the transfer function is a power ratio so the factor in the numerator should be 0.7943 as given in the lab. Note that the db(x) function in matlab assumes that x is a voltage ratio. You need to be careful about db.
A scheduling glitch has occurred in which ECE65 and ECE100 were in the same lab room at the same time.
We have changed our times in a way that will minimize the impact and our TA's can handle. The new times are:
Monday, 6pm to 9pm
Tuesday, unchanged, 2 to 5pm
Wednesday, noon to 3pm
I have put 3 sign-up sheets on the wall of the Pspice lab (ebu2 329) for the 3 lab sections. First-come first-served. There is enough room for 13 groups in the lab, so we should all fit in 3 sections, but if you can only come on one of these times you better get over there and sign-up as soon as possible.
The class schedule is on google calendar with open sharing here.
Notes: Lecture notes from this class will not be on-line as they are under development. However lecture notes from previous renditions of this class in 2007/2008 are available here. Students will find them helpful, particularly the first three sections: Introduction; Passive Filters; and OpAmps. The sections on non-linear devices are interesting but will not be covered in detail this quarter.
Review: Previous instructors have found that some students needed to review two topics in particular: complex algebra and circuit analysis. Review notes are available on these topics: here and here.
CAD Software:We will use two CAD programs: MATLAB and PSPICE. These programs are on the ACS PCs in EBU2 Rm 329 (aka The Pspice Lab), indeed many other ACS PCs also. However you will find it a significant advantage to have them on your own machine too.
MATLAB is an interpreted scripting language with powerful data analysis capabilities and very good default graphics. We will use it to analyze circuits and plot measurements. It will be useful in many other courses. There are Student versions of MATLAB for WINTEL, MAC, and LINUX. The WINTEL and LINUX versions will run under Parallels on an Intel MAC. The Student version is a very good bargain. You should also get the Student User's Manual.
PSPICE is a circuit simulator which we will use extensively. There is a free student version of PSPICE which is lobotomized, but is sufficient for this course. There are many free clones which you might want to explore such as LTSPICE, and there are many commercial clones too. Of the lot PSPICE is perhaps the simplest and provides the best plots and graphs. There are two schematic capture programs distributed with PSPICE: Capture and Schematics. The first is more powerful and the second (which only works with version 9.1) is more convenient. A primer on PSPICE is here. PSPICE is runs only on WINTEL but runs under Parallels on an Intel MAC. It will be assumed that you are familiar with PSPICE from ECE65, if this is not true you should compensate by working on PSPICE exercises from ECE65.
Lecture Schedule - copied from Fall 2008 - updated in real time:
Lecture 1: Begin analysis of second order passive (RLC) circuits for the first assignment. Complete analysis of low-pass filter. Plot magnitude and phase of transfer function.
Lecture 2: Find peak of transfer function. Discuss the maximally flat characteristic. Analyze high-pass, and band-pass filters for the first assignment.
Lecture 3: Analyze band-reject filter for the first assignment. Discuss series and parallel resonance. Examine bandpass and bandreject topologies using parallel resonance. Discuss parasitic elements such as the parallel capacitacne associated with real inductors. Begin general discussion of Laplace transforms, poles and zeros.
Lecture 4: Discuss second assignment.
Lecture 5: Poles and zeros, all-pass filters, begin Laplace Transforms.
Lecture 6: More Laplace transforms, calculate step response.
Lecture 7: Discuss Lab 3.
Lecture 8: Discuss measurements in Lab 3. Calculate overshoot for second order low-pass function. Begin general feedback discussion.
Lecture 9: Continue feedback with discussion of input and output impedances, effect of capacitive load.
Lecture 10: Discuss Lab 4.
Lecture 11: Measurement trips for lab 4. Begin analysis of stability of feedback system.
Lecture 12: Calculate relation between phase margin and damping factor for second order loop gain. Calculate phase margin of feedback amplifier compensated for load capacitance.
Lecture 13: Discuss review problem set 1.
Lecture 14: Stability and compensation of photodetector preamp and magnetic coil driver
Lecture 15: MIDTERM 1
Lecture 16: Discuss Lab 5, the differentiator circuit
Lecture 17: Discuss midterm
Lecture 18: Other feedback configurations, i.e. sum voltage or current at input, feedback voltage or current from output.
Lecture 19: Input and output impedances for each configuration. Miller Effect. Op amp compensation.
Lecture 20: Review circuit analysis
Lecture 21: Review linear system analysis.
Lecture 22: MIDTERM 2
Lecture 23: Discuss Lab 6, the Wein bridge oscillator.
Lecture 24: Discuss second midterm. Schmidt trigger circuit, relaxation oscillator.
Lecture 25: Discuss Lab 7: Relaxation and Ring Oscillators.
Lecture 26: Discuss the CMOS inverter rising edge and falling edge delays. Outline MOSFET device, calculate W/L ratio for inverter. Consider NAND gate and necessary W/L rations.
Lecture 27: Consider NOR gate W/L ratios. Control frequency of ring oscillator by starving current of inverter. Calculate power and energy of CMOS logic. Start multiple opamp biquad design.
Lecture 28: THANKSGIVING
Lecture 29: Discuss type I and type II biquad structures. Introduce signal flow graphs. Show how to realize all combinations with opamp circuits.
Lecture 30: Continue biquad, why not use differentiator?
Lecture 31: Switched capacitor biquads.
Assignments and Labs: There will be 7 weekly assignments which, except for the first one, will involve a combination of analysis, simulation, design, assembly and testing. The analysis, simulation, and design can be thought of as a "pre-lab", it must be completed before the scheduled lab period because it will take the entire scheduled period to complete the assembly and testing. A report will be required on each assignment and the report grades will constitute 40% of the total grade. There will be no assignment the week before the midterms, but problem sets will be given to aid in studying for the midterms. Lab assignments must be done in groups of two. You may select your own partner. Once the group is formed, it is fixed for the duration of the quarter. The first assignment is an introduction to the design tool Matlab, it will not involve assembly of a circuit or testing in the lab. For this assignment each student must return a separate report. For subsequent assignments reports must be prepared jointly by the group. Reports should be clear, concise, and accurate. They should be readable in one forward pass. Place plots, diagrams, tables, etc. in line in the text whenever possible. Reports will be graded both on the quality of the report as well as on the technical contents. The laboratory facility is located in EBU2 room 339.
Assignment Schedule, Fall 2009:
Note that the assignments are very similar to those of Fall 2008, but are being revised and you must be sure that you work from revised instructions. The Fall 2008 instructions are included where the revisions are not yet complete.
Lab 1: Linear Circuit and System Analysis with Matlab. Begin Friday Sept 25, return report Friday Oct 2. The instructions are here. A useful Matlab script is here.
Lab 2: Design a Low-Pass Filter for a DSL Line. Begin Oct 2, return report Oct 9. The instructions are here.
Lab 3: The Voltage Follower Circuit. Begin Oct 9, return report Oct 16. The instructions are here.
Problem Set 1: Review for midterm on Wed Oct 21. Problems from Fall 2008 are here and here. These problem sets will not be graded.
MIDTERM EXAM Wed, October 21. The Fall 2008 midterm exam is here and the solutions are here.
Lab 4: Design of a Differentiator Circuit. Begin Oct 23, return report Oct 30. The instructions are here.
Problem Set 2: TBA.
SECOND MIDTERM EXAM Web, Nov 4. The Fall 2008 exam is here and the solutions are here.
Lab 5: Design of Wein-Bridge Oscillator. Begin Nov 6, return report Nov 13. The instructions are here..
Lab 6: Design of Linear USB Power Supply. Begin Nov 13, return report Nov 20. The instructions are here..
Lab 7: Design of Switching-Mode Oscillators. Begin Nov 20, return report Wed Dec 2. The instructions are here..
FINAL EXAM Friday Dec 11 at 8:00am