Basic Circuit Design Research Articles

Qualitative assessment of a challenge-based learning and teamwork applied in electronics program

Every student of industrial technology engineering must develop and acquire specific electronic competencies and skills, such as those pertaining to the design, analysis, and assembly of basic circuits in the context of both analogue and digital electronics, including the corresponding instrumentation. Additionally, as is the case for practically all university degrees but has not always been addressed adequately in the field of engineering, generic competencies such as oral communication and teamwork must be acquired. The experience discussed in the article focuses on the design, implementation, and assessment of a hybrid (face-to-face and virtual) educational activity that facilitates the acquisition of specific engineering skills through a teamwork-based approach and enhances communication among students in the context of experimentation. The students, who are divided into teams, must develop a series of embedded systems with the aim of providing a solution to a problem derived from Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. This approach entails the challenge of working with a heterogeneous sample of students studying for a dual degree in design and mechanics, whose motivations are also highly varied. The innovative objective of the educational proposal focuses on adapting the practice to the roles and profiles of the students and tailoring project phases to the competency needs of each student. The results highlight the need to design real practices that foster the motivation of engineering students; they also emphasize the fact that in the context of teamwork, roles pertaining to the specific competencies required by dual-degree students should be defined. The evaluation of such an experiment using the Bipolar Laddering Assessment has exhibited utility and reliability regarding small samples of users and has been shown to be valid regarding identifying the strengths and weaknesses of educational experiments.

English

The environment is deteriorating every day. In the face of this problem, there are innovative ways to counteract this phenomenon that could lead to the massive extinction of living beings. The automotive fleet is a serious polluting factor in the world, emitting many toxic gases and pollutants into the environment, within which we will focus on noxious gases and NOx. The objective of this study is to realize a detector of noxious gases emitted by the exhaust pipe promoting a reduction of these, separated by two major phases, detection and filtering (regeneration). For this purpose, we have used the guide of filter families that are being promoted by environmental standards for better quality in the environment. Following this, a prototype is designed using basic circuit design components that are controlled by a free programmable microcontroller (Arduino UNO), guided by the technology present in the ECH and DPF filters. The prototype showed values in real-time and indicated when to switch from one process to another, in addition to displaying graphically how many values, in parts per million, are being detected, activating LED indicators that show an immediate response. Taking into account the above mentioned, it is recommended to promote research and use of the family of filters that will be presented to reduce the problem of air pollution and the environment.

Three-Phase Mission Profile Emulator for Multiple Submodules in Modular Multilevel Converter

This article proposes a highly efficient mission profile emulator (MPE) for submodules (SM) in modular multilevel converter (MMC), with respect to its basic circuit topology, control method and design. By using a common three-phase dc-ac power converter, as well as some analytical equations of MMC, the proposed MPE is capable of emulating operating conditions of multiple SMs in the MMC system. Compared with existing single-phase testing methods, the proposed three-phase structure achieves better testing efficiency. In the proposed MPE, two testing units of SMs, including four different mission profiles of submodule, are tested simultaneously with low requirements on dc power supply voltage. The comparisons between the complete MMC system and the MPE in the simulation, as well as experimental measurements, are given to verify the validity and accuracy of the proposed testing approach.

Amplification Channel for Avalanche Photodiode Signals Purposed for Spectrometric Measurements under High Peak Rates

A method of amplification and shaping of analog signals produced by a large-capacitance signal source is proposed. This method is optimized for reaching the highest signal/noise ratio, and, along with that, it allows for recognizing signals that arrive with a small time interval. An amplifying channel is designed that implements the proposed method. This channel is purposed for amplification of avalanche photodiode signals in detectors based of fast scintillators. The structure of the amplifying channel, the principle of recovering the shape of the input signal, and the basic circuit design solutions used in the developed amplifier are described.

<uri>Jutge.org</uri>: Characteristics and Experiences

Jutge.org is an open educational online programming judge designed for students and instructors, featuring a repository of problems that is well organized by courses, topics, and difficulty. Internally, Jutge.org uses a secure and efficient architecture and integrates modern verification techniques, formal methods, static code analysis, and data mining. Jutge.org has exhaustively been used during the last decade at the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya to strengthen the learning-by-doing approach in several courses. This paper presents the main characteristics of Jutge.org and shows its use and impact on a wide range of courses covering basic programming, data structures, algorithms, artificial intelligence, functional programming, and circuit design.

Analysis of a Class-E Power Amplifier With Shunt Filter for Any Duty Ratio

The class-E power amplifier with shunt filter, which is also known as the class-E power amplifier with shunt capacitance and shunt filter, is proposed in this brief for any duty ratio. The basic circuit waveforms and design equations are derived and the design parameters of the circuit elements for some selected duty ratios are numerically solved. Subsequently, the characteristics of the class-E power amplifier with shunt filter are discussed. Also, a simulation example is carried out to verify the presented design method. Compared with the classical class-E power amplifier, the presented class-E power amplifier with shunt filter has a higher achievable maximum frequency and requires less quality factor of the filter. It is a promising candidate to design broadband and high-efficiency power amplifiers.

Undergraduate Electronics Projects Based on the Design of an Optical Wireless Audio Transmission System

The two projects presented in this paper can be used either as two separate assignments in two different semesters or as a final assignment for undergraduate students of electrical engineering. They have two main objectives: first, to teach basic electronic circuit design concepts and, second, to motivate the students to learn more about analog circuit design. The two projects are: 1) the design of an audio power amplifier, and 2) the design of an amplitude-modulated optical link with a pulsed light-emitting diode (LED) at the emitter and a photodiode and a transimpedance amplifier at the receiver. An audio signal is used to modulate the oscillator that drives the LED, and the receiver demodulates this signal to produce an audio signal (music, for example) that can be sent to a loudspeaker. The intent of this optical communication system was to allow students to design and build various electronic circuits that have an overall objective and a clear practical application. Students are motivated by using this system to transmit, receive, and listen to their own music.

Stability Analysis of a Planar Multiple-Beam Circuit for <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$W$ </tex-math></inline-formula>-Band High-Power Extended-Interaction Klystron

Circuit analysis of a multiple-beam version of a high-power extended-interaction klystron is performed. The circuit is based on the barbell cavity with five coplanar electron beams across the transverse section of the cavity. Although the basic circuit design is straightforward, stable operation is challenging due to the mode competition and the self-oscillation in an oversized multiple-gap cavity driven by multiple beam sources. The 3-D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation technology and the space-charge wave theory were exploited to analyze the stability. The physical design of the interaction system was accomplished with the beam parameters of voltage 19 kV and of overall current 4 A (0.8 A $\times 5$ ). PIC results show that a power of 11.28 kW can be achieved at a frequency of 94.48 GHz with an instantaneous 3-dB bandwidth of 160 MHz. The corresponding gain and electric efficiency are 55.75 dB and 14.84%, respectively.

ERECTION OF SHOTCRETED LINING WITH EXPLOSIVES

The basic circuit design of erection of shotcrete lining in vertical excavations of round cross-section, and also algorithm of scaling of key parameters of a way is considered. Results of scalings of parameters of a way on the given algorithm for the basic industrial explosives are resulted

Study on PCI Bus and ISA Bus Conversion Design

At present there are still a large number of ISA bus boards in use. Providing an interface to the existing ISA products is a problem faced by the majority of developers and users. To resolve this problem, a PCI-to-ISA adapter is designed. It includes basic architecture design and adapter hardware circuit design. Thereinto hardware circuit design includes PCI bus interface circuit design, ISA bus interface circuit design and I/O detection module design. Then the serial EEPROM 93LC46B interface design and configuration is introduced. Finally, the I/O detection module and the device basd on the ISA interface are debugged. The debugging results and practice show that the design is feasible, reasonable and useful.

Use of explosive energy in applying the shotcrete lining

The basic circuit design of erection of shotcrete lining in vertical excavations of round cross-section as well as the calculation algorithm of key parameters of a way for the basic industrial explosives are considered.

Synthesizing a novel genetic sequential logic circuit: a push‐on push‐off switch

Design and synthesis of basic functional circuits are the fundamental tasks of synthetic biologists. Before it is possible to engineer higher-order genetic networks that can perform complex functions, a toolkit of basic devices must be developed. Among those devices, sequential logic circuits are expected to be the foundation of the genetic information-processing systems. In this study, we report the design and construction of a genetic sequential logic circuit in Escherichia coli. It can generate different outputs in response to the same input signal on the basis of its internal state, and 'memorize' the output. The circuit is composed of two parts: (1) a bistable switch memory module and (2) a double-repressed promoter NOR gate module. The two modules were individually rationally designed, and they were coupled together by fine-tuning the interconnecting parts through directed evolution. After fine-tuning, the circuit could be repeatedly, alternatively triggered by the same input signal; it functions as a push-on push-off switch.

Development of Remote Measurement System for Studying Electronic Circuits on Web Browser

We have designed and implemented the “Virtual Laboratory” systems on the computer systems. Some of the implemented systems are Web-based learning environments where a server/client model is adopted. The subject of electronic circuits is the most essential one in the departments of electrical and electronic engineering. However, it is a difficult subject for students to understand the basic therory, technical term and electronic circuit design. In this paper, we will describe the remote measurement system for the learning support of electronic circuits using RTLinux.

An Analog Electronics Companion- Basic Circuit Design for Engineers and Scientists [Book Review

An Analog Electronics Companion- Basic Circuit Design for Engineers and Scientists [Book Review

Digital Measuring Microscope

A measuring microscope equipped with digital measuring transducers is considered. The transducers of linear and angular displacement and measuring heads for guidance and disconnection are constructed according to the same basic circuit design using the same fundamental base. This simplifies and cheapens the construction and facilitates maintenance of these instruments.

Basic Circuit Design of a Neural Processor: Analog CMOS Implementation of Spiking Neurons and Dynamic Synapses

We discuss the integration architecture of spiking neurons, predicted to be next-generation basic circuits of neural processor and dynamic synapse circuits. A key to development of a brain-like processor is to learn from the brain. Learning from the brain, we try to develop circuits implementing neuron and synapse functions while enabling large-scale integration, so large-scale integrated circuits (LSIs) realize functional behavior of neural networks. With such VLSI, we try to construct a large-scale neural network on a single semiconductor chip. With circuit integration now reaching micron levels, however, problems have arisen in dispersion of device performance in analog IC and in the influence of electromagnetic noise. A genuine brain computer should solve such problems on the network level rather than the element level. To achieve such a target, we must develop an architecture that learns brain functions sufficiently and works correctly even in a noisy environment. As the first step, we propose an analog circuit architecture of spiking neurons and dynamic synapses representing the model of artificial neurons and synapses in a form closer to that of the brain. With the proposed circuit, the model of neurons and synapses can be integrated on a silicon chip with metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) devices. In the sections that follow, we discuss the dynamic performance of the proposed circuit by using a circuit simulator, HSPICE. As examples of networks using these circuits, we introduce a competitive neural network and an active pattern recognition network by extracting firing frequency information from input information. We also show simulation results of the operation of networks constructed with the proposed circuits.

The InP-HEMT IC Technology for 40-Gbit/s Optical Communications

We present the outline of the InP HEMT IC technology. This technology realizes InP HEMT digital ICs for 40-Gbit/s optical fiber communication systems through the integration of 0.1-μm-gate-length HEMTs, vertical diodes, capacitors, and WSiN resistors with two level interconnections. This paper describes the high-speed digital IC circuit design and fabrication in InP HEMT technology for 40-Gbit/s/channel optical communication systems. Some results on InP HEMTs' reliability are also covered. Basic circuit design techniques utilizing SCFL topology and fundamental circuit elements of the selector and D-type flip-flop are discussed in detail. The basic digital ICs of MUX, D-FF, and DEMUX ICs fabricated with 0.1-μm-gate InP HEMTs successfully operated up to 50 Gbit/s in the packaged modules. These IC modules offer large speed margins for the 43-Gbit/s OTU-3 data rate. In order to develop cost-effective optical transmitters and receivers, we designed a PLL-based CDR with a full-rate architecture. The fully monolithic integrated CDR exhibited error-free operation for 231-1 PRBS data signal at the OTU-3 bit rate of 43.0184 Gbit/s. Four-bit MUX and DEMUX ICs are other key components, and could be implemented by using InP HEMT technology. Additionally, we describe InP-IC fabrication technology with two-level inter-connection. This is already fully matured for 40-Gbit/s SSI fabrication. The uniform FET characteristics and high-yield passive component fabrication technologies support this degree of maturity. InP HEMT lifetime is 107 hours at l00°C. These results prove the InP HEMT IC fabrication technology presented here, to be highly reliable. These investigation show that robust performance and yield when realizing SSI and MSI 40-Gbit/s functions.

A course in the design of basic logic circuits, based upon the AEB O level electronics syllabus

A course in the design of basic logic circuits, based upon the AEB O level electronics syllabus

Linearization of direct FM frequency modulators

Voltage controlled crystal oscillator (VCXO) frequency modulators have found increasing use in recent years in portable frequency modulation (FM) equipment as an alternative to a standard crystal oscillator followed by a phase modulator. The advantages of using a direct FM VCXO over an indirect FM phase modulator are considered. A model for the crystal and frequency control element will be developed and basic circuit design considerations will be presented. Conditions necessary to minimize audio distortion generated by the VCXO modulator will be dealt with in detail.

Applications of the Taguchi gas sensor to alarms for inflammable gases

In domestic, commercial, light industrial, and some recreational environments, there exists a requirement for the economical detection of potentially explosive concentrations of inflammable gases. The recently introduced Taguchi gas sensor, or T.G.S., is an inexpensive semiconductor transducer which is sensitive to all inflammable gases, and has electrical characteristics which appear to make it suitable for incorporation into the relevant instruments. These characteristics are presented, as are the basic circuit design concepts for operating the device from both mains and battery power sources. Although brief notes on safety requirements are included, it is not intended that the paper should advocate, or otherwise, the use of the device from this point of view.