What could be covered in a first course.
In the suggested course content below I will refer to “core” material or “additional”
material for analog and digital circuits. The following paragraphs delineate what I mean
by these references.
Core material for analog circuits: Chapter 1, Chapter 6, Chapter 7 (sections 1-3),
Chapter 8 (sections 1-4), and Chapter 9 (sections 1-4, “introductory treatment” only –
i.e., open- and short-circuit time constants are not covered).
Additional material for analog circuits: SPICE (Chapter 4), op amps (Chapter 5),
IC design and differential stages (Chapter 7, sections 4 & 5; Chapter 8, sections 5 &
6; Chapter 9, section 7), multi-stage amplifiers (Chapter 7, section 3; Chapter 8,
section 7; Chapter 9, section 6), worst-case analysis (Section 7.6), open-and shortcircuit time constants (Chapter 9, sections 1-4, “advanced treatment”), filters and
tuned amplifiers (Chapter 11), large-signal analysis (Chapter 12), data converters
(Chapter 13).
Core material for digital circuits: Chapter 14 (section 1 only), Chapter 15 (sections
1, 2, 3.1-3.4, and, perhaps, 4.1).
Additional material for digital circuits: Chapter 14 (sections 2-4), Chapter 15
(sections (3.5-3.6, 4.2).
A one-quarter course could include:
1) analog and digital – cover the core material for both analog and digital circuits,
although you would probably not have enough time to cover both bipolar and FET
circuits, so you could either choose to cover only one, or you could leave out voltage
buffers (e.g., source follower) and current buffers (e.g., common gate).
2) all analog – cover the core material for analog circuits plus selections from the
additional material for analog circuits.
3) analog plus devices physics- cover the core material for analog circuits and a
rudimentary coverage of device physics (Chapter 2, intuitive treatment only). You
would probably not have enough time to cover both bipolar and FET circuits, so you
could either choose to cover only one, or you could leave out voltage buffers (e.g.,
source follower) and current buffers (e.g., common gate).
A one-semester course could include:
1) analog and digital – cover the core material for both analog and digital circuits,
plus possibly some selections from the additional material.
2) all analog – cover the core material for analog circuits plus selections from the
additional material for analog circuits.
3) analog plus devices physics- cover device physics (Chapter 2), and the core
material for analog circuits.
Additional courses (e.g., second quarter or semester) could go back and fill in material
that was only given an introductory treatment in the first course (e.g., cover the open- and
short-circuit time constant methods in Chapter 9, or the “advanced analysis” of feedback
in Section 10.1.4) and/or add new material (e.g., filters and tuned amplifiers from Chapter
11, large-signal analysis from Chapter 12, data converters from Chapter 13). One
example of a two-course sequence is given below.
Example course sequence.
At UC Davis we have a one-quarter circuits course required of everyone, and then a
second course that is optional.
In the required course we want to provide an introduction to both analog and digital
circuits. In addition, we cover transistor operation at an intuitive level since not all of
the students have had that yet (they have all had device physics up through pn
junction diodes). Therefore, the required course covers all of Chapters 1 & 6; the
intuitive treatments in Sections 2.4.1, 2.5.1, and 2.6.1; Chapter 7 (sections 1-3);
Chapter 8 (sections 1-3), and Chapter 9 (sections 1-3, “introductory treatment” only –
i.e., open- and short-circuit time constants are not covered); Chapter 14 (section 1);
Chapter 15 (sections 1, 2, 3.1-3.4, and 4.1). We emphasize bipolar circuits, but do
mention their FET counterparts.
In the second-quarter optional course we go back and add coverage of current buffers
(Section 8.4), open- and short-circuit time constants (Chapter 9, sections 1-4,
“advanced treatment”), feedback (Chapter 10), a brief introduction to filters and tuned
amplifiers (selections from Chapter 11), large-signal swing calculations (Section
12.2), and a brief introduction to data converters (Chapter 13). More advanced digital
circuits are covered in a separate course taught using a dedicated digital circuits book.