Analog Circuits
– Analog circuits represent information through continuously varying current or voltage.
– Basic components of analog circuits include wires, resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, and transistors.
– Analog circuits are commonly represented in schematic diagrams.
– Kirchhoff’s circuit laws are used for analyzing analog circuits.
– Distributed-element model is used for circuits with sizes comparable to signal wavelength.
Digital Circuits
– Digital circuits use discrete values to represent logical and numeric information.
– Binary encoding is commonly used in digital circuits.
– Transistors are extensively used in digital circuits to create logic gates.
– Digital circuits can provide logic and memory functions.
– Digital integrated circuits are widely used in electronic devices.
Mixed-Signal Circuits
– Mixed-signal circuits combine elements of both analog and digital circuits.
– Examples of mixed-signal circuits include comparators, timers, and converters.
– Modern radio and communications circuitry often use mixed-signal circuits.
– Analog circuitry is used to amplify and convert signals in mixed-signal circuits.
– Further signal processing can be performed in the digital domain.
Design
– Electronic circuit design involves the analysis and synthesis of circuits.
– Designing electronic circuits requires considering factors like distortion, gain control, and offset voltages.
– Complex digital circuits with billions of logic elements can be fabricated at low cost.
– Digital circuitry is used to create microprocessors and custom-designed logic circuits.
– Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are widely used in prototyping and development.
Prototyping
– Prototyping involves building an actual circuit to test and debug a theoretical design.
– Techniques like wire wrapping, breadboarding, and stripboarding are used for prototyping.
– Open-source tools like Fritzing can be used to document and move towards physical production.
– Prototyping platforms like Arduino simplify programming and interaction with microcontrollers.
– Prototypes can be deployed as-is or replaced with relevant circuitry for the final product. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_circuit
An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can flow. It is a type of electrical circuit. For a circuit to be referred to as electronic, rather than electrical, generally at least one active component must be present. The combination of components and wires allows various simple and complex operations to be performed: signals can be amplified, computations can be performed, and data can be moved from one place to another.
Circuits can be constructed of discrete components connected by individual pieces of wire, but today it is much more common to create interconnections by photolithographic techniques on a laminated substrate (a printed circuit board or PCB) and solder the components to these interconnections to create a finished circuit. In an integrated circuit or IC, the components and interconnections are formed on the same substrate, typically a semiconductor such as doped silicon or (less commonly) gallium arsenide.
An electronic circuit can usually be categorized as an analog circuit, a digital circuit, or a mixed-signal circuit (a combination of analog circuits and digital circuits). The most widely used semiconductor device in electronic circuits is the MOSFET (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor).
Breadboards, perfboards, and stripboards are common for testing new designs. They allow the designer to make quick changes to the circuit during development.
