Master Course Description

No: EE 233

Title: CIRCUIT THEORY

Credits: 5 (4 lecture - 1 laboratory)

UW Course Catalog Description

Coordinator: Mani Soma, Professor of Electrical Engineering

Goals: To develop competence in analysis and design of simple electrical circuits with standard types of time-domain excitation; to learn basic electrical laboratory practice, and verify theory experimentally; to use SPICE simulator as a computer-aided tool in analysis and design.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Analyze circuits with sinusoidal excitations.
  2. Apply Laplace transform technique to simplify the analysis of circuits in the frequency domain.
  3. Design simple circuits from time-domain or frequency-domain specifications.
  4. Use SPICE to verify the results of circuit analysis.
  5. Measure basic signal parameters (amplitude, frequency, etc.) using basic laboratory instruments: oscilloscope, power supply, function generator, multimeter.

Textbooks:J.W. Nilsson and S.A. Riedel , Electric Circuits, 7th Edition. Prentice Hall , 2005 (This text is also used by EE215).

Prerequisites by Topic:

  1. Time-independent (dc) circuit analysis (EE 215)
  2. Transient analysis of electric circuits in the time domain (EE 215)
  3. Solution of first and second order linear differential equations.
  4. Manipulation of complex numbers (add, subtract, multiply, divide, complex conjugate, absolute value, phase (argument), etc.).

Topics:

  1. Sinusoidal excitation and average power (2 weeks, Ch. 9 and Ch. 10 - sections 10.3 and 10.6)
  2. Laplace transformation techniques (3 weeks, Ch. 12)
  3. Transfer functions (3 weeks, Ch. 13)
  4. Frequency response and simple filters* (2 weeks, Ch. 14)
  5. Simulation of electric circuits using SPICE simulator, with some design examples (in Quiz section)
  6. Basic EE laboratory, components and instrumentation (in Laboratory section)

Course Structure: Lecture (3 hours / week), Quiz (2 hours / week), Laboratory (3 hours / week). Weekly homeworks. Two exams in class (one midterm and one final). There is also a hand-on exam in the Laboratory at the end of the quarter.

Computer Resources: Use of SPICE simulation software for analysis of electrical circuits related to the content of the course and the laboratory. About 20% of the course.

Laboratory: At the end of the quarter, each student is required to take an individual hands-on exam in the Laboratory to demonstrate sufficient knowledge in using instruments. Laboratory experiments are revised annually and new experiments are added to replace the older ones as appropriate. Representative topics of the experiments are listed below.

  1. Introduction to laboratory instruments (power supply, multimeter, function generator, oscilloscope).
  2. Step input response of RC circuits. Report required.
  3. AC steady state analysis of RC and RLC circuits, frequency response, simple filters. Report required.
  4. Operational amplifiers in both time and frequency domains. Report required.
  5. Design and analysis of simple and more complex filters. Report required.

Grading: 10% Homework, 15% Laboratory, 30% Midterm, and 45% Final exam.

Outcome coverage: (a) An ability to apply math, science and engineering knowledge. The vast majority of the lectures, homework and laboratories deal with the application of circuit theory to analyze and design simple RC and opamp circuits. Mathematical formulations are commonplace throughout the course. Relevance: H.

(b) An ability to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data. All laboratory experiments require students to build circuits, collect data, and analyze data to demonstrate that the circuits perform as designed. Relevance: L.

(e) An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems. The homework and laboratory experiments involve solving engineering problems identified in the assignments or in the experiment descriptions. Relevance: M.

(g) An ability to communicate effectively. Students are required to write and submit laboratory report for each experiment. The body of the lab report must include the following sections: Objectives; Equipment used; Brief procedure; Tabulated data; Analysis,calculation and results; Answers to questions; Conclusion; Necessary printouts. Relevance: L.

(k) An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice. Students use Matlab and SPICE to solve homework problems and to simulate circuits to be built in the laboratory. Relevance: H.

(m) Knowledge of differential equations, linear algebra, complex variables and discrete mathematics. Students use complex variables extensively as part of employing the Laplace transform to analyze and design circuits. Discrete mathematics and linear algebra are not covered. Relevance: M.

Prepared By: Mani Soma
Last Revised: 04/23/2007