Course Description

Look around you. How many electronics devices are in your room? You are probably reading this on laptop computer that contains millions of transistors, thousands of diodes, and several amplifiers that are enabling you to listen to streaming radio in the meantime. In fact, you may even be carrying a similar device around with you in the form of a smart-phone. You may drive to class in a car that has several embedded computers controlling its basic operation and each of those may have hundreds of thousands of transistors. Electronic devices have permeated your environment to the point that their ubiquity has made them virtually invisible.

The pace of change in the field of electronics is very rapid, both at the device and system levels. Smart phones have only emerged as a staple of everyday life in the past 6 or 7 years. The pervasive UVA wireless network did not exist in 2000. It is almost certain that the devices that you study in this course will undergo significant improvements in both power handling and miniaturization by the time you graduate, and there is a strong possibility that we will see new "everyday" devices over this same time period. To be successful as an engineer in this field you must learn to understand devices that you may not have been previously familiar with and be able to apply them to previously unseen problems. One of the "big picture" goals of this course is to develop approaches for dealing with new, possibly incomplete data, and to integrate this understanding into the design of systems not previously seen in a traditional lecture based environment.

Unlike the analysis of passive circuits, the analysis of circuits that employ these devices is a very non-linear process; frequently no closed form solutions are possible. Typically, heavy use is made of simplifying models and simulations. Unfortunately, both are approximations, and may not be totally applicable under all circumstances. Understanding modeling and simulation - both strengths and limitations - is another of the "big picture" goals of this course.

In this course we will address the fundamental operation, characteristics, and design of circuits that power all of the devices you use every day through a mixture of traditional lecture presentations and learning activities that include analysis and design problems solved in a group and laboratory environment. We will review material from the first Fundamentals course, and introduce 2 new devices: operational amplifiers and bipolar junction transistors.

Simultaneously, one of the goals of the course it to learn the fundamentals of linear system theory, notions typically found in a Signals and Systems course. These include the Fourier and Laplace transforms, mathematical tools used in all areas of engineering but especially applicable to electrical and computer engineering sub-disciplines of communications, controls, and signal processing. While the theory is widely applicable, it is useful to learn it within the context of a concrete application, and the field of circuits and electronics provides a practical platform for understanding and applying these concepts.

Course Details

This course consists of 6 studio hours per week. Students will work in 3 person groups. In most cases there will be a preparatory assignment and reading that each student will prepare in advance of the class meeting period. These are posted on the website according to the date that they are due. These assignments are intended to maximize the student’s use of time in the class session, and provide guidance in the preparation of measurement and analysis activities. Homework will normally be assigned on a weekly basis, and concentrate on the most recent material, but also include content from previous topics, including Fundamentals I. Earlier experiments will be somewhat "canned". However, as the semester progresses, the experiments will grow more open ended.

Student Learning Objectives

We will address the "big picture" goals through a number of specific learning objectives. At the conclusion of this course students should be able to:

1. Operate electronic laboratory test equipment, and make accurate and meaningful measurements of D.C. and A.C. signals.
2. Construct a laboratory experimental setup in a simple, clear, and easy to trace manner. Students should be able to demonstrate that the circuit has been correctly assembled.
3. Determine which approximations and assumptions are valid for a particular circuit or design.
4. Determine relevant data for a particular part, i.e. a BJT from a manufacturer's data sheet, especially as they differ or vary from the typical model used in class. (For most manufacturers this is the rule!)
5. Use mathematical tools, including the Laplace and Fourier transforms, to analyze signals and design systems.
6. Determine the limits and usefulness of models and approximations.
7. Analyze and design typical circuits that combine operational amplifiers, diodes, MOSFETs, and BJTs to meet a set of given specifications.
8. Design and construct a large scale project incorporating components not previously seen.
9. Work in groups to solve problems related to the other objectives.
10.  Learn to write clear and cogent technical/laboratory reports

Assessment Activities:

Note that items in parenthesis indicate the learning objectives that we will be addressing with each activity.

1. Homework will consist of weekly assignments. Assignments will usually be posted on a weekly basis, and be due 1 week later at the beginning of class. Problems will represent typical calculations and design of material currently presented in class, and will also draw on prior material in the course. You may consult with other classmates, but all work must be your own. (3,4,5,6,7)
2. There will be 3 in class tests, spaced approximately equally throughout the semester. The primary focus of each test is the material up to that point in the course, but will necessarily include aspects of all prior material, including Fundamentals I. Tests will focus heavily on understanding rather than long strings of calculations. (3,4,5,6,7)
3. There will be a large number of in-class quizzes administered through Collab. They are intended to focus on understanding of current lecture material, and will consist of multiple choice questions. The quizzes are not "scheduled" and will be delivered to coincide with key lecture points. (3,4,5,6,7)
4. There will be 1 final exam that is cumulative including the material from Fundamentals I. It will follow the same format as the tests (but longer) (3,4,5,6,7)
5. Students are expected to maintain a bound laboratory notebook in which pre-lab calculations, observations, procedures, and results are recorded for all in-class activities. The lab notebooks will be randomly collected and graded according to a similar rubric as the formal lab report (shown below). (9,10)
6. Laboratory work will be coincident with the lectures and done in the studio format. Students will work in teams of 3 (pre-assigned).  Additionally, some of these activities will be of a more extended nature, and require an additional formal lab report (1 per group).  A required template for these reports is provided  here. Students are expected to rotate activities such as construction and the taking of measurements on a daily basis.  (1..10)

Assessment grading relative values

Your assessments will contribute to your overall grade in the following manner:

1. Class and lab participation
   1. In class quizzes                                 8%
   2. Lab engagement                               5%
   3. Lab notebooks                                  10%
   4. Course evaluations                           2%
2. Homework  and formal lab reports              25%
3. In-class tests
   1. Test 1                                                10%
   2. Test 2                                                10%
   3. Test 3                                                10%
4. Final Exam                                                  20%    

Please note that in-class quizzes will be administered via collab, so it will be necessary for you to bring a web enabled device to class each day. Note that you will need a laptop computer for connecting to the Virtual Bench as well.

Homework Assessment-Rubric-Guidelines

Homework assignment will typically consist of extended format problems that require you to integrate several concepts from one or more of the learning objectives. There may be several problems, and each may consist of several parts. For each section of a multipart problem, the following assessment guidelines will be applied:

Formal Lab Report Assessment-Rubric Guidelines

1. Presentation                                                                      20%
   1.  Neatness
   2. Following Template
   3. Grammar and typographical errors, proper use of language
   4. Proper use of figures and graphs (units, annotations, etc.)
   5. References if applicable
2. Correctness                                                                       50%
   1. Correct interpretation of the purpose of the lab
   2. Proper setup of the experiment
   3. Plausible numerical results or correct interpretation of what went wrong
   4. Conclusions are quantitatively substantiated by the results
3. Completeness and Thoroughness                                      30%
   1. All of the lab requirements have been fulfilled
   2. Following instructions in the assignment
   3. Appropriate level of detail in descriptions and conclusions