Syllabus
10-Week Microelectronic Circuits & Signal Processing: Theory to Bench
Full week-by-week plan. Each entry lists the theme and reading. Detailed theory exercises, bench/lab tasks, measurement methodology, and definitions of done live in the weekly lecture notes.
Note on AI use: The weekly lecture notes and syllabus summaries on this site are drafted with AI assistance, so each week has a consistent structure to study from. The substance is mine: every derivation is worked by hand on paper first and converted to LaTeX/KaTeX/MathJax using AI for typesetting only, and all code and bench measurements are produced by me. The goal is to learn the material, which only happens by building the circuits and processing the signals myself.
Weekend rhythm: Saturday morning = reading and handwritten derivations. Saturday afternoon = breadboard build and first measurements. Sunday morning = deeper measurement, scope captures, and debugging. Sunday afternoon = analyze data, compare to theory, and write a staff-level note.
General rule for each week: (1) theory derivations or exercises, (2) build the circuit on the breadboard, (3) measurement artifact (DMM readings, LCR values, scope captures, Bode data, or a processed-signal plot), (4) staff-level note in docs/weekXX-topic.md that reconciles measured numbers with the predicted ones.
Book abbreviations:
CAD = Ulaby & Maharbiz, Circuit Analysis and Design, 3rd ed. (open access) · ME = Platt, Make: Electronics, 2nd ed. · PEI = Scherz & Monk, Practical Electronics for Inventors, 4th ed. · Griffiths = Griffiths, Introduction to Electrodynamics · O-S&S = Oppenheim, Willsky & Nawab, Signals and Systems · O-DSP = Oppenheim & Schafer, Discrete-Time Signal Processing.
The three roles of the books: CAD is the spine — rigorous lumped-circuit theory with worked analysis. PEI and ME are the practical layer — what real parts do, how to build, and what goes wrong on a breadboard. Griffiths supplies the field-theory justification underneath the lumped model (why a capacitor stores energy in its field, why the lumped approximation is even valid). O-S&S and O-DSP carry the signal-processing half: LTI systems, Fourier, sampling, and the move into discrete time.
Bench equipment (already on hand):
- Fluke 117 true-RMS digital multimeter — DC/AC volts, resistance, continuity, capacitance, frequency.
- FNIRSI LC1020E LCR meter — R, L, C, ESR, Q/D/θ at selectable test frequencies (100 Hz / 1 kHz / 10 kHz / 100 kHz).
- Siglent SDS1104X-E 100 MHz 4-channel digital oscilloscope — waveform capture, FFT math, automatic measurements, CSV export.
- BOJACK 480-pc component kit — 830-tie-point breadboard, MB102 3.3 V/5 V power-supply module, jumper wires, precision potentiometer, resistors, ceramic/electrolytic capacitors, diodes, LEDs, transistors.
- Coliao 4-channel bi-directional I²C logic level converters (3.3 V ↔︎ 5 V) — for safely interfacing the Jetson’s 3.3 V GPIO with 5 V breadboard logic.
- Jetson Orin Nano — data acquisition host, digital signal processing, and the discrete-time half of the course.
Signal source note: AC weeks (5–10) require a sinusoid/step source. Options in order of preference: the scope’s optional arbitrary waveform generator, a standalone function generator, or a software-defined source from the Jetson (PWM + RC reconstruction filter, or an I²C/SPI DAC). Each AC week’s lab notes call out which source it assumes and an alternative.
Main repository structure:
circuits-dsp-course/
README.md
docs/ # staff-level weekly notes
labs/
week01-fields-to-circuits/ week02-resistive-analysis/
week03-capacitors-inductors/ week04-transient-response/
week05-phasors-ac-power/ week06-frequency-response-filters/
week07-diodes-transistors-opamps/
week08-lti-convolution-fourier/
week09-sampling-aliasing-adc/
week10-dsp-dft-fft-capstone/
measurements/ # CSV scope captures, Bode sweeps, LCR logs
dsp/ # NumPy/SciPy + Jetson signal-processing code
common/
scripts/ plots/ datasheets/Target skills: Analog & mixed-signal circuit design · Bench instrumentation and measurement discipline · Filter design and frequency-domain reasoning · Semiconductor device intuition · Continuous and discrete-time signal processing · Embedded data acquisition · Reconciling field theory, circuit theory, and DSP into one mental model.
Setup: Breadboard work at the bench with the Fluke, FNIRSI, and Siglent. Analysis and DSP on the M-series MacBook (Python/NumPy/SciPy/Matplotlib) for prototyping, with the Jetson Orin Nano as the embedded acquisition/processing target for Weeks 9–10. Qucs-S (schematic capture with the ngspice simulation backend — both free and open source) is used throughout as the “third opinion”: every circuit is predicted by hand, drawn and simulated in Qucs-S, then measured on the bench, and the three numbers are reconciled.
# macOS schematic capture + simulation environment (all FOSS)
brew install ngspice qucs-s
python3 -m venv venv && source venv/bin/activate
pip install numpy scipy matplotlib jupyter pyvisa pyvisa-py
# Jetson (Weeks 9-10): data acquisition + DSP
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y python3-numpy python3-scipy python3-matplotlib \
python3-smbus i2c-toolsPhase 1 · Weeks 1–4 — Circuit Foundations and Bench Skills
Week 1 — From Fields to Circuits: Charge, Current, Voltage, Ohm’s Law, and the Bench
Theme: Establish why the lumped-circuit model is a legitimate approximation of Maxwell’s equations, and get fluent with the multimeter and breadboard.
Read: Griffiths Ch. 2 (electrostatic field, potential) and Ch. 5 intro (currents) — extract the field-theoretic meaning of voltage and current. · CAD Ch. 1 (circuit terminology, charge, current, voltage, power, sign conventions). · PEI Ch. 2 (theory: voltage, current, resistance, Ohm’s law, power). · ME Experiments 1–4 (feel current, switching, a simple LED circuit).
Week 2 — Resistive Circuit Analysis: KCL, KVL, Nodal, Mesh, Thévenin, and Norton
Theme: Master the systematic analysis of resistive networks and verify equivalent-circuit theorems on the bench.
Read: CAD Ch. 2 (resistive circuits: series/parallel, voltage/current dividers) and Ch. 3 (nodal analysis, mesh analysis, superposition, Thévenin/Norton, maximum power transfer). · PEI Ch. 2 (Kirchhoff’s laws, divider, Thévenin) for the practical framing.
Week 3 — Energy Storage: Capacitors and Inductors from Field to Component
Theme: Understand capacitance and inductance from the EM field down, then measure real parts (including parasitics) with the LCR meter.
Read: Griffiths Ch. 2.5 (energy in the electrostatic field), Ch. 4 (capacitance with dielectrics), Ch. 7.2 (inductance, energy in magnetic fields). · CAD Ch. 5 (capacitors and inductors: i–v relations, energy storage, series/parallel). · PEI Ch. 3 sections on capacitors and inductors (real-world behavior, ESR, types). · ME Experiments on capacitors.
Week 4 — Transient Response: First- and Second-Order Circuits on the Scope
Theme: Derive and then capture the step/natural response of RC, RL, and RLC circuits; connect time constants and damping to what the scope shows.
Read: CAD Ch. 5 (first-order RC and RL transients, time constant) and Ch. 6 (second-order RLC circuits: natural response, overdamped/critically damped/underdamped, damping ratio, natural frequency). · PEI relevant time-constant and ringing sections.
Phase 2 · Weeks 5–7 — AC, Frequency Response, Filters, and Devices
Week 5 — Sinusoidal Steady State: Phasors, Impedance, and AC Power
Theme: Move from time-domain differential equations to algebra with phasors and impedance, and measure amplitude and phase on the scope.
Read: CAD Ch. 7 (AC analysis: sinusoids, phasors, impedance, admittance, AC nodal/mesh) and Ch. 8 (AC power: instantaneous, average, complex, power factor, RMS). · O-S&S Ch. 3 intro (sinusoidal signals, complex exponentials) for the signals-side framing. · PEI AC sections.
Week 6 — Frequency Response and Analog Filters: Transfer Functions, Bode, Resonance
Theme: Treat a circuit as a frequency-dependent system; design RC and RLC filters, measure their magnitude/phase response, and read Bode plots.
Read: CAD Ch. 9 (frequency response of circuits and filters: transfer function, Bode plots, RC low/high-pass, RLC bandpass, resonance, quality factor, active filters). · O-S&S Ch. 6 (time and frequency characterization of signals and systems; magnitude/phase, Bode) — extract the systems view of frequency response. · PEI filter chapter.
Week 7 — Semiconductor Devices: Diodes, BJTs, MOSFETs, and Op-Amps
Theme: Build the microelectronics layer — nonlinear devices and the op-amp — and put them to work as rectifiers, switches, amplifiers, and active filters.
Read: PEI Ch. 4 (semiconductors: diodes, transistors — BJT and MOSFET — biasing, switching, amplification) and the op-amp chapter. · CAD Ch. 4 (operational amplifiers: ideal model, inverting/non-inverting, summing, difference, integrator/differentiator) and CAD diode/transistor material. · ME Experiments on transistors and chips.
Phase 3 · Weeks 8–10 — Signal Processing: Continuous to Discrete
Week 8 — LTI Systems, Convolution, and Fourier Analysis
Theme: Recast the circuits you built as LTI systems; use convolution and the Fourier transform to explain what a filter does to a signal’s spectrum.
Read: O-S&S Ch. 2 (LTI systems, convolution, impulse response) · Ch. 3 (Fourier series of periodic signals) · Ch. 4 (continuous-time Fourier transform, properties, frequency response of LTI systems). · CAD Ch. 11 (Fourier analysis in circuits) to connect back to hardware.
Week 9 — Sampling, Aliasing, ADCs, and Reconstruction
Theme: Cross the bridge from continuous to discrete; understand the sampling theorem, witness aliasing on real signals, and design an anti-alias front end.
Read: O-S&S Ch. 7 (sampling: the sampling theorem, impulse-train sampling, aliasing, reconstruction, zero-order hold). · O-DSP Ch. 4 (sampling of continuous-time signals: C/D and D/C conversion, the effects of undersampling). · PEI ADC/DAC sections.
Week 10 — Discrete-Time Signal Processing: z-Transform, DFT/FFT, Digital Filters (Capstone)
Theme: Process captured signals digitally on the Jetson; tie the whole course together by comparing an analog filter to its digital twin.
Read: O-DSP Ch. 2 (discrete-time signals and LTI systems) · Ch. 3 (the z-transform) · Ch. 5 (transform analysis of LTI systems) · Ch. 6 skim (filter structures) · Ch. 7 skim (FIR/IIR filter design) · Ch. 8–9 (the DFT and the FFT). · O-S&S Ch. 5 review (discrete-time Fourier transform).
Book Integration Map
| Book | Weeks |
|---|---|
| CAD (Ulaby & Maharbiz) | 1 (terminology) · 2–3 (resistive analysis) · 5 (storage, first-order) · 6 (second-order) · 7–8 (AC, power) · 9 (frequency response, filters) · 4 (op-amps, Week 7) · 11 (Fourier, Week 8) |
| PEI (Scherz & Monk) | 2 (theory, Weeks 1–2) · 3 (capacitors/inductors, Week 3) · 4 (semiconductors, Week 7) · op-amp & filter & ADC chapters (Weeks 6–9) |
| ME (Platt) | 1 (intuition, hands-on bring-up) · 3 (capacitors, Week 3) · transistor/chip experiments (Week 7) |
| Griffiths | 2, 4 (electrostatics, capacitance, field energy — Weeks 1, 3) · 5, 7 (magnetostatics, inductance — Week 3) |
| O-S&S (Oppenheim, Willsky & Nawab) | 3 (sinusoids — Week 5) · 6 (frequency response — Week 6) · 2–4 (LTI, convolution, Fourier — Week 8) · 7 (sampling — Week 9) · 5 (DTFT — Week 10) |
| O-DSP (Oppenheim & Schafer) | 4 (sampling — Week 9) · 2–3, 5–9 (discrete-time systems, z-transform, DFT/FFT — Week 10) |
How This Course Supports the Other Diiv.io Courses
This course is the analog and signal-processing foundation under the more digital tracks.
- Course 1 (Autonomy ML Systems + Embedded Robotics + Jetson): IMU and sensor front ends, anti-alias filtering, sampling, and digital filtering are exactly the Week 3–10 material; the Jetson data-acquisition work here is the same hardware used for embedded control loops.
- Course 4 (Low-Level CS): GPIO, ADC/DAC, interrupts, and the hardware/OS boundary in Course 4 sit directly on top of the device physics and signal conditioning learned here.
- Course 5 (Mathematical & Theoretical Foundations): Course 5’s signals/transforms phase (Fourier, Laplace, z-transform, DFT/FFT) is the pure-theory counterpart to the applied DSP in Weeks 8–10; the complex-analysis and linear-algebra phases justify phasors and the transform machinery.
Suggested Weekly Time Budget
| Activity | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Reading + handwritten derivations | 2 h | — |
| Theory exercises | 1 h | — |
| Breadboard build | 2 h | 1 h |
| Measurement (DMM/LCR/scope) + Qucs-S | 1 h | 2 h |
| Analysis + theory-vs-measured reconciliation | — | 1 h |
| Staff-level note | — | 1–2 h |
Minimum viable: 6 h/weekend. Strong: 8–10 h/weekend. Deep: 12+ h/weekend.
Optional Weeks 11+ Direction
If prioritizing analog design: discrete amplifier design (multistage, feedback, frequency compensation), active filter topologies (Sallen–Key, multiple-feedback, biquad), oscillators, and low-noise design.
If prioritizing mixed-signal/embedded: SPI/I²C sensor integration, sigma-delta ADCs, real-time sampling on the Jetson, DMA-driven acquisition, and a small software-defined radio or audio DSP project.
If prioritizing DSP depth: multirate signal processing, polyphase filters, adaptive filters (LMS/RLS), spectral estimation (Welch, periodogram), and fixed-point implementation tradeoffs.
If prioritizing power/EM: transmission-line effects and when the lumped model breaks, switched-mode power supplies, EMI/EMC, and signal integrity on real PCBs.