Circuit Designer's Companion (EDN Series for Design Engineers) (Paperback)

~ Williams (Author) "A fundamental property of any electronic or electrical circuit is that the voltages present within it are referenced to a common point, conventionally called the..." (more)
Key Phrases: voltage coeff, freq coeff, series pass element, Vin Vout, Ohm's Law (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Product Description

This is a compendium of practical wisdom concerning real world aspects of electronic circuit design gathered during years of experience in industry. The Companion enables circuit designers to produce more effective working circuits. Valued by linear and digital designers alike, this guide explains and outlines solutions that take into account the imperfect behaviour of real components, interconnections and circuits.


Electronic circuit design can be divided into two areas: the first consists in designing a circuit that will fulfil its specified function; the second consists in designing the same circuit so that every production model of it will fulfil its specified function reliably over its lifetime. Designers who can appreciate the techniques and tools used in the latter area are becoming increasingly rare. The aim of this guide is to help such people. The subjects covered include grounding, printed circuit design and layout, the characteristics of practical active and passive components, cables, linear ICs, logic circuits and their interfaces, power supplies, electromagnetic compatibility, safety and thermal management. Throughout, the implications of manufacturability and cost are stressed. The style is direct and lucid, providing straightforward practical advice. This is the ideal guide to real world design for both students and practitioners.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Newnes (September 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075061756X
• ISBN-13: 978-0750617567
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,488,895 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 78 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A ideal book., December 27, 1999

By	Andrew Lee (San Jose, California, USA) - See all my reviews

For someone who only knows V=IR, he could understand 20% of the content without difficulty.

For someone who ever took more than 2 related courses in college but hardly remember them, or ever had several monthes of hand on hardware experience. This book is written for him. BUY IT! EVERY PENNY IS WORTHY.

For a very experienced hardware engineer, 80% of this book is useless for him, the rest 20% and some tables/charts could be a good reference.

The author must be a good teacher as well as a cool hardware engineer base the following facts I observed in this book:

1. A lots of comprehensive drawing, most of them are dummy-proof.

2. Very good content structure, one can start from any chapter without difficulty. It is easy to finds what he want.

3. Easy English (OK, okay, I am from Taiwan). No riddle-like description. Always has some explaination when refer to an unpopular theory. You don't need an encycopedia when you read this book.

4. Good coverage: Components, Power and grounding, EMI, PCB problem, general problems of product design, transmission lines.

Clearly, this book is written for a digital hardware designer. Some analog issues are covered, yet they are degital design-related. For RF and pure analog design, this book is not enough.

For digital designer, I recommend this book without reservation.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have reference for everyone..., April 13, 2000

By A Customer

Everywhere I have worked I've made sure we have lots of copies of this on hand... Many of them walk away because it's such a good reference. If you ever need to design or build a product or just a fun project and have it work, start from here. Everything you won't learn in school, and industry just calls "experience". Combine this with High Speed Digital Design: A Handbook of Black Magic and you have an extremely powerful combination of references, covering all the details you need to know. Very highly recommended.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, April 12, 2007

By	Scott (Bellingham, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Circuit Designer's Companion, Second Edition (EDN Series for Design Engineers) (Paperback)

I am about 2/3 the way through the book and am disappointed - not with the book, but with my schooling!

My profs were great and dedicated, but they didn't teach half the stuff in this book, not nearly enough real-world engineering. We came out of school without really knowing how to make a professional, working circuit design.

This great book will help the transition from school boy to engineer.

I highly recommend this book. Tim Williams explains real-world, critical circuit concerns in an easy to understand manner and backs it up with equations. For instance, did your profs ever explain what "ground bounce" really was, and if so did they emphasize how important it is to prevent and how?

The Circuit Designer's Companion is full of great advice and I hope to find more books by this author.