Recommendation on Topics for a Circuit and PCB Design Course - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: juanfermed
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2015, 04:55:23 am
content: Hi Everyone,I would like to have your opinions on this topic. I might be invited to give a full semester course on Circuit and PCB Design. The objetive of the course should be oriented to embedded system design, but with a strong focus on the hardware design part rather than the software. And it should be an introductory course covering a broad material, both from a theoretical and practical perspective, since it is a gap any university here covers.Actually, the course is not defined at all and I can/should present a proposal for the curriculum of the course. This is were I want to have your opinion. But before I stated what are my ideas of what topics should be covered, following is some information about the students:Major: Electrical EngineeringYear: Probably 3rd, 4th year of a 5 year programBackground: It is hard to say for me because I do not know them nor the level of teaching of the institution. But they have taken courses regarding electrical circuits (ohms law, phasors, RLC Circuits) but I dont know up to what point. They might have also taken one introductory course on electromagnetic theory.That being said, following is what I would like to cover both from theoretical (equations governing their behavior) and practical (design, test) perspectives:Discrete devices:BJTs (PNP, NPN),Diodes (Rectifier, zener, shottky, PIN),FETs (N-Channel, P-channel, Power/Signal Mosfets),Power Devices: IGBTs, Power Mosfets,Power Supplies:Linear regulators: LDOsDC-DC Converters (Buck, Boost, Buck-Boost topologies)Power supply topologies (isolated, non-isolated, tracking)Protection Devices:MOVs, TVS, Fuses, eFuses/LoadSwitches,Microcontrollers:Architectures, Pheripherals, Communication Protocols,PCB Layout:Noise Considerations,Thermal Considerations,Placement Considerations,PCB PlanningRouting of Mixed Signal Boards (which is in itself a broad topic) including switching power supplies, microcontrollers, ADCs, opamps, power stages.Routing of intefaces like : USB, ethernet, HDMI, LVDS (I am not sure about this)Software/FirmwareC languageProject StructuresMetrics for software developmentDevelopment of reusable softwareA big jump to RTOS and even to Embedded OS (Linux)A big topic throughout the course would be Design Margins and how to interpret datasheet information. This, in itself, can be challenging part.Maybe I am crazy but I would like to end with the design of a small board with an ARM processor running linux and some interfaces. That might be useful for their following courses.I must clearly state that I am not near being an experienced embedded system designer. This is a big disadvantage but I am passionate about electronics and want to take this challenge and do my best to end up with one of the best courses those guys will ever receive.So I will appreciate any comments and feedback you guys have. Thanks!

author: juanfermed
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:16:39 pm
content: No replies so far

author: awallin
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 06:33:23 pm
content: Quote from: juanfermed on October 28, 2015, 06:16:39 pmYour question is too difficult?I can give you a list of books I like to consult. Taking the best and most useful parts from these would make a good course. My background is experimental physics, so building measurement systems of various kinds.General electronics: Horowitz & HillRF: Bowick, RF Circuit Designop-amps: Clayton, Operational AmplifiersPhotodetectors/circuits: Hobbs, Building Electro-Optical Systemstransducers and measurement circuits: Bentley, Principles of Measurement Systemssignals and systems: Baher, Analog and Digital Signal Processingsome of these are quite old but good books age gracefully you might argue..all of this is clearly too much material for one course.... you have to select what to leave out.With a thorough grasp of what's in those books and your students should be pretty employable!?!

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2015, 07:16:32 pm
content: If they haven't covered circuit analysis theory and methods + semiconductor device theory in years 1 & 2 you aren't going to be able to do much that's useful in a single semester. Even given a whole year + those prerequisites, your aims would be very ambitious. You need to find out what the department's preferred MCU is so you can leverage what they are learning in other courses so you can concentrate on the hardware and practical circuit design