ECE 3434
Spring 2006
TR 9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Simrall 203
1/18/06
Justin Davis Simrall 335
325-3629
davis@ece.msstate.edu
Teacher
Dr. Davis ordinarily will be available in his office during the
following hours:
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Mondays, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Wednesdays, 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Meetings at other times are available catch-as-catch-can or
by appointment.
Prasad Kotamraju
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Laboratory
Assistant
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Section 01, Simrall 323
Teusday, 12:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.
Section 02, Simrall 323
Wednesday, 3:00 p.m. - 5:50 p.m.
Section 03, Simrall 323
Thursday, 6:30 p.m. - 9:20 p.m.
Meetings at other times can be arranged by e-mail.
Homework
Grader
Course
Objectives
1. To combine multiple amplifier stages and feedback to
achieve stable low distortion amplifiers in practice.
2. To analyze stability and other high frequency effects in
amplifiers and the effects of feedback.
3. To move a circuit design from simulation to layout to printed
circuit board production to population of the board to
measurement and testing.
4. To construct simple circuits, such as sinusoidal oscillators,
on prefabricated printed circuit boards and measure circuit
performance with software on personal laptops.
5. To practice self-assessment and interpretation of work from
multiple perspectives by comparing measured results for
circuits and systems with results from analysis and
simulation.
6. To learn and apply principles for clearly documenting and
communicating findings.
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Books
and
Supplies
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Adel S. Sedra and Kenneth C. Smith, Microelectronic
Circuits, (5th Edition), ISBN 0-19-514251-9, Oxford 2004.
List price $119.00.
Student resources available online.
G. Randy Slone, High-Power Audio Amplifier Construction
Manual, ISBN 0-07-134119-6, McGraw-Hill 1999.
(List price $34.95. Available at bookstores, as well as on
line at, for example, amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com.)
MATLAB® Student Version Release 14 with SIMULINK®,
The MathWorks, Inc. ISBN 0-9755787-2-3
(List price $99.00. Available at the MSU bookstore, as well
as on line at from The MathWorks.)
DSSF3 Realtime Analyzer software, available online.
Special price $75.00.
Hardware Homework Parts. List price $26.39.
Laboratory Parts. List price $30.19.

Custom, 2-layer, standard technology PCB fabricated by
Advanced Circuits, $33 for 1 PCB (plus shipping) for boards
with areas of up to 60 sq. in. (special price, for students
only).
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According to the laboratory schedule, each student will
build and test a working prototype of a high performance
audio power amplifier on a printed circuit board (PCB).
Before or during each scheduled laboratory session, each
student will complete the specified tasks, will record the
results into the laboratory notebook, and submit the work to
the teaching assistant for evaluation.
For Laboratory 8 (after completion PCB design), each
student will write and submit an interim laboratory report
before the end of the scheduled time for that laboratory
session. The main purpose of the report is to describe to
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Laboratory
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the teacher and the teaching assistants the progress and
problems, as well as well as their resolution, in
accomplishing the task of building the working prototype.
The report will also describe the basic operation and
function of the various subcircuits of the given amplifier
design.
For Laboratory 12, each student will write and submit a final
laboratory before the end of the scheduled time for that
laboratory session. The final report will expand the interim
report to include work on laboratories 9, 10, and 11, and will
incorporate improvements in content and style that arise
from evaluation of the interim report. The report also will
compare the Lin architecture of the audio amplifier with that
of a 741 operational amplifier Sedra/Smith pp. 893 - 898)
and the LM380 IC power amplifier (Sedra/Smith pp. 1261 1264).
A student who fails to complete and submit a notebook for
review, or a report before the end of the laboratory session
at which it is due will receive no more than 90% credit for
that work when it is submitted later.
The laboratory grade will be calculated as follows:
o 40%: Weekly laboratory notebook evaluations.
o 15%: Interim laboratory report.
o 20%: Final laboratory report.
o 5%: Milestone 1, successful Cadence PSpice
simulation of the frequency response of the given
design.
o 5%: Milestone 2, receive PCB from Advanced
Circuits.
o 5%: Milestone 3, fully populate the PCB with
components from the parts list.
o 10%: Milestone 4, demonstrate operation of the
Slone 12W amplifier with third harmonic distortion of
1% or less at 1kHz .
o
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Homework
10%: Bonus Milestone: demonstrate operation of the
Slone 12W amplifier with THD distortion of 0.01% or
less at 1kHz .
You will receive zero credit for writing down the correct
answer. To receive credit, you must document clearly what
principles you used to solve each problem and the steps
you followed. One of the objectives of this course is to
develop your skills in writing technical reports. A key to
success in writing technical reports is documenting and
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explaining your work to other professionals. You must
clearly document and explain your work to the grader to
receive credit for each homework assignment.
Homework is due at the beginning of the class period on
the date specified in the Schedule.
Late homework will not be accepted after the beginning of
the class meeting on the date specified in the Schedule.
You will receive no more than 75% credit for late
homework.
Your homework grade will be determined by your best n-2
(out of n) grades on the homework assignments.
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You are encouraged to develop and share ideas for
solutions of homework assignments with others in the class
but the work you submit cannot closely duplicate that
submitted by another student. The work you submit must
demonstrate clearly to the grader your personal, individual
effort. For example, neither words of explanation, graphics
(including screen shots), nor the format of MATLAB®
commands should duplicate those in the work of another
student. Even though you work cooperatively with others,
you must demonstrate to the grader that you did not merely
replicate the work of someone else. Excessively similar
submissions will earn a grade of zero. In addition, a report
of academic misconduct will be filed according to the
Policies and Procedures for Handling Academic
Misconduct.
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On the tests, my main interest is seeing how you think, so
give me a clear record of what's going on in your mind. If
there's no record, I assume that there is no thought. Make
the record easy to follow. Clearly communicating technical
ideas will be a central part of your career. Start practicing
now. It is a good habit that will help your grade.
The tests are cumulative in that you are responsible for all
material covered by previous tests, as well as the new
material since the previous test. Tests typically will include
at least one homework problem and one problem from a
previous test.
There will be four examinations. Your lowest exam grade
will be dropped automatically, so only three of the exam
grades will count.
There will be no make-up examinations.
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The final examination will cover the entire semester's work.
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Tests
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Grading
Lecture Base: 75% of total grade
Laboratory Base: 25% of total grade
To pass this course, you must have a D (60%) average
in both the lecture and laboratory portions of this
course. To advance in the ECE curriculum, you must
achieve a grade of C (70%) or better in the combined
lecture and laboratory grade for this course. Failure to
meet these minimal criteria would leave you ill
prepared for the next level of courses. Thus, this
criterion is applied for your own protection.
Final Grade Calculation:
Absolute 100 point scale - no magic grade curves or lastminute adjustments
o 40%: One-hour exams
o 20%: Homework/quizzes/participation
o 15%: Final Exam - cumulative and mandatory
o 25%: Laboratories - to be assigned by the lab
instructor
o Your letter grade for the course depends on the
weighted average of your test grades, your
homework grade, and your grade on the final
examination, as follows;
 A - 90 through 100
 B - 80 through 89
 C - 70 through 79
 D - 60 through 69
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Special
Notes
F - 0 through 59
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Any student who requires special arrangements in order to
meet course requirements should contact the department of
Student Support Services on campus.
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The teacher will deal with all occurrences of academic
misconduct in accordance with the Policies and Procedures
for Handling Academic Misconduct.