ECE342
ECE342 (Electronic Circuits) is a 3-credit-hour course that satisfies the 3-of-5 advanced core electives for EEs. This course qualifies as a technical elective for CEs. It is offered in the fall, spring, and summer.
Content Covered
- Two-port networks
- Small signal models
- MOSFET DC analysis, small signal model
- MOSFET terminal impedances
- Common source, common gate, common drain amplifiers
- BJT DC analysis, small signal model
- BJT terminal impedances
- Common emitter, common base amplifiers
- Frequency response, Bode plots
- CMOS logic and sizing
ECE342 begins with a review of basic circuit analysis methods from ECE110 and ECE210, including Thevenin and Norton equivalents. Small signal analysis is introduced in the context of diodes. Much of the course involves applications of MOSFETs and BJTs. After the first few weeks, students will learn to analyze circuits with these devices. The course covers MOSFET characteristics and DC analysis before introducing the MOSFET incremental model. Using the incremental model, students are able to derive the output impedances and gains of MOS amplifiers, including common source, common gate, and common drain amplifiers. Students will then be prepared to analyze more complex circuits involving MOSFETs. After this, the course moves on to BJTs, covering BJT characteristics, DC analysis, the BJT incremental model, and common amplifier configurations. Towards the end of the course, students will review frequency response and transfer functions and learn to graph Bode plots. Students will learn methods of estimating transfer functions of amplifiers, including the open-circuit time constant method. ECE342 concludes with an introduction to digital circuit design, including CMOS logic design and CMOS transistor sizing.
Prerequisites
The only official prerequisite is ECE210. Concepts such as diode, BJT, and MOSFET characteristics, linear circuit analysis techniques, frequency response, and transfer functions will carry over from ECE110 and ECE210, so it is helpful to review these topics before taking the course. Taking ECE340 - Semiconductor Devices before ECE342 can be helpful for understanding the theory behind the devices covered in this course but is definitely not required to do well in ECE342.
When to Take it
Take this course to satisfy the 3 out of 5 criteria, or if you have an interest in integrated circuits. ECE342 is a fundamental course for just about any area of electrical engineering as nearly everything electrical engineers work with is made possible by circuits. It is also a good course to take early if you are interested in internships in hardware positions. If you do wish to take this course as soon as possible, take ECE210 as soon as possible. It is recommended to take ECE342 with ECE343 - Electronic Circuits Laboratory, the complementary lab for the course, as it helps with understanding concepts learned in this class and will prepare you for future courses in integrated circuits.
Course Structure
ECE342 has an average workload. Homework is assigned weekly, except during exam weeks. The length of each homework set varies over the course of the class. Towards the beginning and end of the course, homeworks are challenging but manageable and students can expect to spend a few hours on them. However, during the middle of the course, homeworks can be quite difficult and time consuming if you do not have a full understanding of the underlying concepts. For this reason, it is recommended to start early on the homework and attend office hours.
In addition to the homeworks, the course has three midterm exams and one final exam. The difficulty of these exams varies depending on the instructor, but expect them to be challenging. Reviewing the homeworks and provided past exams is important to doing well on the midterms and final.
Instructors
This course is taught by a couple of different professors who are well-known in the field of electronic circuits. In recent semesters, Professors Hanumolu, Radhakrishnan, Rosenbaum, Shanbhag, Zhou, Kim, and Schutt-Aine have taught the class.
Course Tips
Some homeworks can be decently time consuming and difficult to approach, so starting early and going to office hours is a good idea. Try not to fall behind, as many concepts in this course build upon previous ones. Exam problems are often similar to homework problems and past exam problems, so it is recommended to work through your previous homeworks and the past exams deliberately when studying for exams.
Life After
Students who have taken and enjoyed ECE342 are open to a wide range of choices from the different subdisciplines of ECE. For students interested in integrated circuits, ECE482 - Digital IC Design and ECE483 - Analog IC Design are good follow-up courses. ECE482 covers digital logic design and is a good choice for students who enjoyed the final part of ECE342, which introduces CMOS logic design. ECE483 builds upon the analog portion of ECE342 heavily and is a good choice for students who want to learn more advanced analog circuit design skills.
This course is also an official prerequisite for ECE453 - Wireless Communication Systems, for students interested in radio frequency engineering, and ECE464 - Power Electronics, for students interested in power engineering.
Additionally, students who enjoyed this course should consider ECE425 - Intro to VLSI System Design (prerequisite: ECE385) and ECE444 - IC Device Theory & Fabrication (prerequisite: ECE340). ECE425 covers very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit design and is a good course to take for students who enjoyed the digital portion of ECE342 and want to learn digital IC design at a higher level than ECE482. ECE444 is an excellent course if you are interested in integrated circuits in general and wish to fabricate your own IC.
Infamous Topics
- Incremental gain, output impedance of MOS amplifiers: Homework problems on this topic can be quite difficult to approach at first for students who have not fully understood the lecture material. Additionally, the problems can be decently computationally heavy.