Richard R. Spencer, and Mohammed S. Ghausi
INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT DESIGN
Hardcover, pp. 1132, plus XX, $ 50,99
Prentice Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458, 2003
ISBN 0-201-36183-3
http://www.pearsoneduc.com

In general about the book

Electronic circuit design is probably one of the most fundamental courses in the electronic engineering curriculum. In spite of the numerous textbooks on electronic circuit design available on the market, most of the students still find this course difficult to learn. This is perhaps the major justification for writing new electronic circuit design books and for making revised editions where many ambiguities in the previous editions are clarified. Bearing in mind the rapid progress of electronics during the last thirty years, the common trends with electronic circuit design books is to cover more and more material that used to be covered in circuits and systems undergraduate courses two decades ago. The primary objective of this book is to provide an insight into the theory and applications of electronic circuit design. The authors present in a systematic and concise manner the principles of electronic circuit design. The combination of in-depth coverage of analog circuits together with limited introduction to digital and analog/digital interface circuits is of significant value in today's design environment. The book's chapters concern three basic subjects: Part I: The Foundations of Electronic Circuit Design (chapters from 1 through 4); Part II: Analog Alectronic Circuit Design (chapters from 5 through 13); and Part III: Digital Electronic Circuit Design (chapters 14 and 15). There are four appendices, Answer to selected problems, and Index. The book comes with CD-ROM that includes evaluation version of the MicroSim DesignLab 8 software, and simulation files for over 100 exercises.

Chapter content

Chapter 1 (Electronic Circuit Design, pp. 1- 42) explains firstly the differences between processes analysis and design, after that point to distinction between analog and digital systems, and finally present the notation used throughout the text. Chapter 2 (Semiconductor Physics and Electronic Devices, pp. 43 -143) concentrates on intuitive understanding of semiconductor components such as pn-junction diodes, BJT, MOSFET, JFET, MESFET, SCR and power handling devices. Chapter 3 (Solid-State Device Fabrication, pp. 145-170) briefly introduces the reader with fundamentals related to fabrication of solid-state electronic devices. Chapter 4 (Computer Aided Design: Tools and Techniques, pp. 171-209) introduces the basic CAD tools most frequently used by transistor-level circuit designers, and focuses on the most popular simulation tool SPICE.

Chapter 5 (Operational Amplifiers, pp. 211- 270) presents the analysis and design of circuits containing operational amplifiers, probably the most versatile amplifier ever invented. Chapter 6 (Small-Signal Linearity and Amplification, pp. 271-300) includes materials concerning small- signal approximation; i.e. it involves the reader how nonlinear devices can be used to produce amplifiers that are approximately linear for small signals. Chapter 7 ( DC Biasing, pp. 301-370) deals with the fundamental concepts of biasing applied to resistive loads and integrated circuits, too. It examines how to analyze and design the DC bias circuits with order to establish the operating points for the nonlinear devices. Chapter 8 (Low-Frequency Small Signal AC Analysis and Amplifiers, pp. 371- 511) introduces the modeling of the response of the transistor to AC signals. Basic one-transistor amplifiers are extensively discussed. Specific examples (voltage and current buffers, current mirrors, differential and multistage amplifiers using bipolar and field- effect transistors are given. Chapter 9 (Amplifier Frequency Response, pp. 512 - 658) introduces the concept of frequency response in electronic circuits. The discussion of the chapter may seem to focus primarily on analysis, rather than on design. This approach however, is actually a good path to successful design. Chapter 10 (Feedback, pp. 659 - 799) addresses the issues of feedback and feedback stability, and point to its relevance and widespread applicability. Chapter 11 (Filters and Tuned Amplifiers, pp. 801 - 862) deals with the topics of active filters, tuned amplifiers and phase locked loops as crucial building blocks of many different types of equipment. Chapter 12 (Low Frequency Large-Signal Analysis, pp. 863 - 938) describes amplifiers (or amplification stages) that are capable of delivering high power levels at the output. In Chapter 13 (Data Converters, pp. 939 - 964) the fundamentals of different types of A/D and D/A converters are presented.

Chapter 14 (Gate-Level Digital Circuits, pp. 965 - 989) deals exclusively with the realm of the digital circuits. Principles of operation of standard combinational and sequential logic circuits are given. In Chapter 15 (Transistor-Level Digital Circuits, pp. 991 - 1081) the design of transistor- level digital circuits is involved.

The text includes four appendices designed to introduce maximum flexibility into the presented material. Appendix A (SPICE Reference, pp. 1083 - 1100) provides an introduction to SPICE, the most widely used circuit simulation program. Appendix B (Example Device Models, pp. 1101 - 1105) provides a listing of the device model parameters used in examples, exercises, and problems throughout the text. Appendices C and D (Two-Port Network Properties and Review of Linear Time-Invariant Network Analysis) are files recorded on the CD. The book ends with sections Answers to Selected Problems (pp. 1107 - 1116), and a comprehensive and useful Index.

Useful for junior-level undergraduates

The organization of the individual chapters is almost identical. It begins with short introduction, after that the central part the main topics are discussed. In the last part of the chapter the following subsections are included: Solutions to Exercises given within a chapter, Chapter Summary, References that make it easy to delve deeper onto any topic of interest, and unsolved Problems making it a good challenges for undergraduates and working engineers.

This is a well-written book. It is an in-depth treatment of design methods for electronic circuits. The text provides a good overview of the varied material as well as specific details on a large variety of electronic circuits. The book is timely and should make an important reference work for junior-level undergraduates, engineers and researchers. Overall, it is a great contribution to the field of electronic circuit design, and is a book worthy enough to be in any electronic circuit designer's collection. I will certainly hold this book in my library and recommend it to anyone working in this field.