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Electronics
Electronics comprises the physics, engineering, technology and
applications that deal with the emission, flow and control
of electrons in vacuum and matter.[1] The identification of the electron in
1897, along with the invention of the vacuum tube, which
could amplify and rectifysmall electrical signals, inaugurated the field of
electronics and the electron age.[2]

Electronics deals with electrical circuits that involve active electrical

components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes, integrated
circuits, optoelectronics, and sensors, associated passive electrical
components, and interconnection technologies. Commonly, electronic
Surface-mount electronic components
devices contain circuitry consisting primarily or exclusively of
active semiconductors supplemented with passive elements; such a
circuit is described as an electronic circuit.

The nonlinear behaviour of active components and their ability to control electron flows makes amplification of weak
signals possible. Electronics is widely used in information processing, telecommunication, and signal processing. The
ability of electronic devices to act as switches makes digital information-processing possible. Interconnection technologies
such as circuit boards, electronics packaging technology, and other varied forms of communication infrastructure complete
circuit functionality and transform the mixed electronic components into a regular working system, called an electronic
system; examples are computers or control systems. An electronic system may be a component of another engineered
system or a standalone device.

Electrical and electromechanical science and technology deals with the generation, distribution, switching, storage, and
conversion of electrical energy to and from other energy forms
(using wires, motors, generators, batteries, switches, relays, transformers, resistors, and other passive components). This
distinction started around 1906 with the invention by Lee De Forest of the triode, which made electrical amplification of
weak radio signals and audio signals possible with a non-mechanical device. Until 1950 this field was called "radio
technology" because its principal application was the design and theory of radio transmitters, receivers, and vacuum tubes.

As of 2018 most electronic devices[3] use semiconductor components to perform electron control. The study of
semiconductor devices and related technology is considered a branch of solid-state physics, whereas the design and
construction of electronic circuits to solve practical problems come under electronics engineering. This article focuses
on engineering aspects of electronics.

Contents
Branches of electronics
Electronic devices and components
History of electronic components
Types of circuits
Analog circuits
Digital circuits
Heat dissipation and thermal management
Noise
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Electronics theory
Electronics lab
Computer aided design (CAD)
Packaging methods
Electronic systems design
See also
References
Further reading
External links

Branches of electronics
Electronics has branches as follows:

1. Digital electronics
2. Analogue electronics
3. Microelectronics
4. Circuit design
5. Integrated circuits
6. Power electronics
7. Optoelectronics
8. Semiconductor devices
9. Embedded systems

Electronic devices and components

An electronic component is any physical entity in an electronic system used to
affect the electrons or their associated fields in a manner consistent with the
intended function of the electronic system. Components are generally intended
to be connected together, usually by being soldered to a printed circuit
board(PCB), to create an electronic circuit with a particular function (for
example an amplifier, radio receiver, or oscillator). Components may be
packaged singly, or in more complex groups as integrated circuits. Some
common electronic components
are capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes, transistors, etc. Components are Electronics Technician performing a
often categorized as active (e.g. transistors and thyristors) or passive (e.g. voltage check on a power circuit
resistors, diodes, inductors and capacitors).[4] card in the air navigation equipment
room aboard the aircraft
carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN
History of electronic components 72).

Vacuum tubes (Thermionic valves) were among the earliest electronic

components.[5] They were almost solely responsible for the electronics revolution of the first half of the twentieth
century.[6][7] They allowed for vastly more complicated systems and gave us radio, television, phonographs, radar, long-
distance telephony and much more. They played a leading role in the field of microwave and high power transmission as
well as television receivers until the middle of the 1980s.[8] Since that time, solid-state devices have all but completely
taken over. Vacuum tubes are still used in some specialist applications such as high power RF amplifiers, cathode ray
tubes, specialist audio equipment, guitar amplifiers and some microwave devices.
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In April 1955, the IBM 608 was the first IBM product to use transistor circuits without any vacuum tubes and is believed to
be the first all-transistorized calculator to be manufactured for the commercial market.[9][10] The 608 contained more than
3,000 germanium transistors. Thomas J. Watson Jr. ordered all future IBM products to use transistors in their design.
From that time on transistors were almost exclusively used for computer logic and peripherals.

Types of circuits
Circuits and components can be divided into two groups: analog and digital. A particular device may consist of circuitry
that has one or the other or a mix of the two types.

Analog circuits
Most analog electronic appliances, such as radio receivers, are constructed from
combinations of a few types of basic circuits. Analog circuits use a continuous
range of voltage or current as opposed to discrete levels as in digital circuits.

The number of different analog circuits so far devised is huge, especially

because a 'circuit' can be defined as anything from a single component, to
systems containing thousands of components.

Analog circuits are sometimes called linear circuits although many non-linear
effects are used in analog circuits such as mixers, modulators, etc. Good
examples of analog circuits include vacuum tube and transistor amplifiers,
operational amplifiers and oscillators.

One rarely finds modern circuits that are entirely analog. These days analog
circuitry may use digital or even microprocessor techniques to improve Hitachi J100 adjustable frequency
drive chassis
performance. This type of circuit is usually called "mixed signal" rather than
analog or digital.

Sometimes it may be difficult to differentiate between analog and digital circuits as they have elements of both linear and
non-linear operation. An example is the comparator which takes in a continuous range of voltage but only outputs one of
two levels as in a digital circuit. Similarly, an overdriven transistor amplifier can take on the characteristics of a
controlled switch having essentially two levels of output. In fact, many digital circuits are actually implemented as
variations of analog circuits similar to this example – after all, all aspects of the real physical world are essentially analog,
so digital effects are only realized by constraining analog behavior.

Digital circuits
Digital circuits are electric circuits based on a number of discrete voltage levels. Digital circuits are the most common
physical representation of Boolean algebra, and are the basis of all digital computers. To most engineers, the terms "digital
circuit", "digital system" and "logic" are interchangeable in the context of digital circuits. Most digital circuits use a binary
system with two voltage levels labeled "0" and "1". Often logic "0" will be a lower voltage and referred to as "Low" while
logic "1" is referred to as "High". However, some systems use the reverse definition ("0" is "High") or are current based.
Quite often the logic designer may reverse these definitions from one circuit to the next as he sees fit to facilitate his design.
The definition of the levels as "0" or "1" is arbitrary.

Ternary (with three states) logic has been studied, and some prototype computers made.

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Computers, electronic clocks, and programmable logic controllers (used to control industrial processes) are constructed
of digital circuits. Digital signal processors are another example.

Building blocks:

Logic gates
Adders
Flip-flops
Counters
Registers
Multiplexers
Schmitt triggers
Highly integrated devices:

Microprocessors
Microcontrollers
Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)
Digital signal processor (DSP)
Field-programmable gate array (FPGA)

Heat dissipation and thermal management

Heat generated by electronic circuitry must be dissipated to prevent immediate failure and improve long term reliability.
Heat dissipation is mostly achieved by passive conduction/convection. Means to achieve greater dissipation include heat
sinks and fans for air cooling, and other forms of computer cooling such as water cooling. These techniques
use convection, conduction, and radiation of heat energy.

Noise
Electronic noise is defined[11] as unwanted disturbances superposed on a useful signal that tend to obscure its information
content. Noise is not the same as signal distortion caused by a circuit. Noise is associated with all electronic circuits. Noise
may be electromagnetically or thermally generated, which can be decreased by lowering the operating temperature of the
circuit. Other types of noise, such as shot noise cannot be removed as they are due to limitations in physical properties.

Electronics theory
Mathematical methods are integral to the study of electronics. To become proficient in electronics it is also necessary to
become proficient in the mathematics of circuit analysis.

Circuit analysis is the study of methods of solving generally linear systems for unknown variables such as the voltage at a
certain node or the current through a certain branch of a network. A common analytical tool for this is the SPICE circuit
simulator.

Also important to electronics is the study and understanding of electromagnetic field theory.

Electronics lab

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Due to the complex nature of electronics theory, laboratory experimentation is an important part of the development of
electronic devices. These experiments are used to test or verify the engineer’s design and detect errors. Historically,
electronics labs have consisted of electronics devices and equipment located in a physical space, although in more recent
years the trend has been towards electronics lab simulation software, such as CircuitLogix, Multisim, and PSpice.

Computer aided design (CAD)

Today's electronics engineers have the ability to design circuits using premanufactured building blocks such as power
supplies, semiconductors (i.e. semiconductor devices, such as transistors), and integrated circuits. Electronic design
automation software programs include schematic capture programs and printed circuit board design programs. Popular
names in the EDA software world are NI Multisim, Cadence (ORCAD), EAGLE PCB and Schematic, Mentor (PADS PCB
and LOGIC Schematic), Altium (Protel), LabCentre Electronics (Proteus), gEDA, KiCad and many others.

Packaging methods
Many different methods of connecting components have been used over the years. For instance, early electronics often
used point to point wiring with components attached to wooden breadboards to construct circuits. Cordwood
constructionand wire wrap were other methods used. Most modern day electronics now use printed circuit boards made of
materials such as FR4, or the cheaper (and less hard-wearing) Synthetic Resin Bonded Paper (SRBP, also known as
Paxoline/Paxolin (trade marks) and FR2) – characterised by its brown colour. Health and environmental concerns
associated with electronics assembly have gained increased attention in recent years, especially for products destined to the
European Union, with its Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and Waste Electrical and Electronic
Equipment Directive (WEEE), which went into force in July 2006.

Electronic systems design

Electronic systems design deals with the multi-disciplinary design issues of complex electronic devices and systems, such
as mobile phones and computers. The subject covers a broad spectrum, from the design and development of an electronic
system (new product development) to assuring its proper function, service life and disposal.[12] Electronic systems design
is therefore the process of defining and developing complex electronic devices to satisfy specified requirements of the user.

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