Title: Electrical Engineering For The Non-Degreed Engineer (and the degreed engineer who wants
a refresher)
Author: Douglas G. Brooks
Publisher: UltraCAD Design, Inc.<http://www.ultracad.com/>
Price: US$ 75.00
This book is aimed at improving the understanding of the basic concepts of high speed printed
circuit board design [i.e., fast rise times, transmission lines, electromagnetic interference,
etc.] for people that either don't have an engineering degree, did not study this in school,
or just need a refresher. This book will not make the reader an engineer, but it will make the
reader more conversant with the designers and give a better understanding of the thinking
behind the decisions that designers make.
Douglas G. Brooks is the President of UltraCAD Design, Inc., a lecturer, and contributor of a
regular monthly column, "Brookspeak", in Printed Circuit Design magazine. He has advanced
degrees in Electronics from Stanford University and in Business Administration from the
University of Washington. In this book, he does a very good job of presenting complex topics
in a conversational, easy to understand fashion.
Basic Components introduces current (and voltage) and the three fundamental electronic
components. It uses hydraulic system analogies to illustrate how resistors, capacitors, and
inductors respond to current (and voltage) in circuits. It presents Ohm's Law, calculates
equivalents of simple series and parallel circuits, and describes charge and discharge curves
of these circuits.
Why Inductors Induct uses the classic current/compass experiment to illustrate how current
through a wire creates a field that deflects a compass needle. It introduces magnetic fields,
motors, generators, and transformers and relates this to high speed design issues [i.e., cross
talk, return signal paths, differential wire pairs].
Basic Circuit Concepts expands on the equivalent circuit ideas of an earlier chapter and
discusses voltage dividers and their use in circuits. It compares Thevenin and Norton
equivalent circuits. It defines power and relates this to the current capacity of traces.
Voltage And Current Changes And Time Constants expands on the relationship between voltage
across and the current flowing through capacitors and inductors, time constants, and the
importance of the rate of change of current (and voltage) with respect to time.
Frequencies and Reactance explains frequencies and wavelengths, rise times, and resonance. It
presents the relationship between the fundamental frequency and the various harmonics that
could be included square wave. It covers Ohm's Law for reactance, while keeping the
mathematics in the background.
Impedance is the chapter where Mr. Brooks' desire for simplicity is overtaken by the complex
numbers necessary to describe resistance, reactance, and phase angles. Still, he avoids much
of the math and manages to get across an intuitive understanding of the effect of combining
the impedance of resistors, capacitors, and inductors when frequency changes.
Bypass Capacitors describes the use of these components in circuits and their relationship to
ground bounce, delves into component selection, and argues different approaches to component
placement. It discusses power supply impedance, including the effects of the capacitance
formed by the planes, and covers the self-resonant frequencies of bypass capacitors and the
effects of equivalent series resistance (ESR).
Transmission Lines gives a quick overview of transmission line issues and relates transmission
line reflections to an analog of voice echoes.
Appendices give background on logarithms and complex numbers, contain an article "Bypass Caps
And ESR", and explain the enclosed demo disk containing simulations of RC Time Constants,
Square Waves, RLC Resonance, RLC Voltage/Phase Relationship, and an "Echo" Illustration.
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