Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• Introduce power electronics and some of its main applications (power conversion in renewable energy, electric vehicles, power supply unit (PSU))
• Introduce typical topologies for AC-DC, DC-DC and DC-AC power conversion
• Give basic and useful skills in analysing and designing power electronics based power converters (PLECS modelling)

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Know typical applications and requirements of power electronic based power converters (switch-mode power conversion)
• Know the characteristics of the diodes and power transistors and their functions in switch-mode power electronic circuits
• Know the functions of inductors and capacitors in switch-mode power conversion
• Know typical switch-mode power conversion circuit topologies: DC-DC, DC-AC, AC-DC
• Know how to reduce voltage and current ripple using smoothing circuits.
• Know high frequency transformers and their functions in power converters
• Understand the principle of pulse-width modulation and simple ways of generating pulse-width modulated waveforms.
• Know the structure and working principle of MOSFET, BJT, and IGBT as power transistors
• Describe various losses and estimate the efficiency of a power electronic system.
• Gain skills of power electronic system modelling (PLECS)
• Conduct basic tests of power electronic systems and use digital oscilloscope, pulse generator, probes and be familiar with typical power electronic and passive component devices and packages in real systems (via Lab)

Content

This module will also introduce PLECS modelling, all module students are offered free license (full function) of PLECS for 12 months.

Lecture 1: Introduction of power electronic systems and their applications, common math and physics used in analysing power electronic systems

• Non-isolated DC-DC converter

Lecture 2: Non-isolated DC-DC converters (BUCK, BOOST and BUCK-BOOST) in Continuous Current Mode (CCM) their operating principles

Lecture 3: Non-isolated DC-DC converters in Discontinuous Current Mode (DCM) their operating principles

• Bridge based DC-AC inverter/rectifier

Lecture 4: Bridge converter, the circuit, working principle and applications

Lecture 5: Single phase DC-AC inverter and Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM)

Lecture 6: Three phase DC-AC inverter/rectifier and AC line filter design

Lecture 7: Tutorial 1: DC-DC and DC-AC converters (two Tripo level questions)

• Diode based AC-DC rectifier

Lecture 8: Uncontrolled single AC-DC rectifier with ideal AC source, diode bridge circuit and principles, capacitor filtering techniques

Lecture 9: Uncontrolled three AC-DC rectifier with ideal AC source, diode bridge circuit and principles, capacitor filtering techniques

• Isolated DC-DC converter

Lecture 10: Isolated DC-DC converter: high frequency transformers, push-pull converter

Lecture 11: Flyback DC-DC converter: working principles and design requirements

Lecture 12: LLC Resonant converter: working principles and design requirements

Lecture 13: Tutorial 2: AC-DC diode based rectifier and isolated DC-DC converters (Flyback and LLC Resonant)

• Power electronic devices

Lecture 14: Power diodes and bipolar junction transistor

Lecture 15: The Insulted Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT): modes of operation. trade-offs.

Lecture 16: The power MOSFET: Concept, modes of operation. trade-offs.

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.

 
Last modified: 23/11/2022 08:35

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• Introduce power electronics and some of its main applications (power conversion in renewable energy, electric vehicles, smart grids)
• Introduce typical topologies for AC-DC, DC-DC and DC-AC power conversion
• Give basic and useful skills in analysing and designing power electronics based power converters (PLECS modelling)

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Know the characteristics of the diode and how to use diodes in rectifier circuits to obtain d.c. from single and three-phase a.c.
• Know how to reduce ripple using smoothing circuits.
• Know the characteristics of the thyristor and how to use the thyristor in controlled rectifiers operating from single or three-phase supplies.
• Be aware of the principal types of converter circuit and their characteristics.
• Understand the principle of pulse-width modulation and simple ways of generating pulse-width modulated waveforms.
• Understand working principle of three-phase inverter circuits using pulse-width modulation.
• Be familiar with the
• Be familiar with the passive components (inductor and capacitor) used in power electronic systems
• Appreciate the relative merits of MOSFETs, IGBTs and bipolar transistors as switches.
• Describe the various losses and estimate the efficiency of a Power Electronic System.
• Gain skills of power electronic system modelling (PLECS)
• Conduct basic tests of power electronic systems and use digital oscilloscope, pulse generator, probes and be familiar with typical power electronic and passive component devices and packages in real systems(Lab)

Content

This module will also introduce PLECS modelling, all module students are offered free license (full function) of PLECS for 12 months.

Lecture 1: Introduction of power electronic systems and their applications, common math and physics used in analysing power electronic systems

• Non-isolated DC-DC converter

Lecture 2: Non-isolated DC-DC converters (BUCK, BOOST and BUCK-BOOST) in Continuous Current Mode (CCM) their operating principles

Lecture 3: Non-isolated DC-DC converters in Discontinuous Current Mode (DCM) their operating principles

• Bridge based DC-AC inverter/rectifier

Lecture 4: Bridge converter, the circuit, working principle and applications

Lecture 5: Single phase DC-AC inverter and Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM)

Lecture 6: Three phase DC-AC inverter/rectifier and AC line filter design

Lecture 7: Tutorial 1: DC-DC and DC-AC converters (two Tripo level questions)

• Diode based AC-DC rectifier

Lecture 8: Uncontrolled single AC-DC rectifier with ideal AC source, diode bridge circuit and principles, capacitor filtering techniques

Lecture 9: Uncontrolled three AC-DC rectifier with ideal AC source, diode bridge circuit and principles, capacitor filtering techniques

• Isolated DC-DC converter

Lecture 10: Isolated DC-DC converter: high frequency transformers, push-pull converter

Lecture 11: Flyback DC-DC converter: working principles and design requirements

Lecture 12: LLC Resonant converter: working principles and design requirements

Lecture 13: Tutorial 2: AC-DC diode based rectifier and isolated DC-DC converters (Flyback and LLC Resonant)

• Power electronic devices

Lecture 14: Power diodes and bipolar junction transistor

Lecture 15: The Insulted Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT): modes of operation. trade-offs.

Lecture 16: The power MOSFET: Concept, modes of operation. trade-offs.

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.

 
Last modified: 25/09/2020 17:01

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• Introduce power electronics and some of its main applications (power conversion in renewable energy, electric vehicles, smart grids)
• Introduce typical topologies for AC-DC, DC-DC and DC-AC power conversion
• Give basic and useful skills in analysing and designing power electronics based power converters

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Know the characteristics of the diode and how to use diodes in rectifier circuits to obtain d.c. from single and three-phase a.c.
• Know how to reduce ripple using smoothing circuits.
• Know the characteristics of the thyristor and how to use the thyristor in controlled rectifiers operating from single or three-phase supplies.
• Be able to explain the conditions under which inversion, i.e. the flow of power from the d.c. to the a.c. side, takes place.
• Appreciate the relative merits of MOSFETs, IGBTs and bipolar transistors as switches.
• Be aware of the principal types of converter circuit and their characteristics.
• Know the principle of pulse-width modulation and simple ways of generating pulse-width modulated waveforms.
• Be familiar with three-phase inverter circuits using pulse-width modulation.
• Be familiar with the essential elements of a complete switch-mode power supply.
• Be able to analyse the operation of a simple SMPS.
• Describe the various losses and estimate the efficiency of a Power Electronic System.
• Appreciate the role of power electronic converters in various applications.

Content

• The diode; simple rectifier circuits using diodes. Three-phase rectification. Smoothing circuits and waveform distortion. Regulated supplies using linear circuit techniques.
• The thyristor. Controlled rectification and inversion using thyristors.
• The MOSFET, IGBT and bipolar transistor as power switches.
• Basic switching converter configurations: the up and down converters. The concept of pulse width modulation; the generation of pulse-width modulated waveforms. Converters with isolation. Introduction to magnetics and components.
• Power losses in converters. ZCS and ZVS Resonant converters.
• Outline design for a complete switch-mode power supply including power factor correction.
• Half and full bridge circuits, Deadtime and the problem of the high side drive. The application of chopper circuits in DC motor drives.
• Single phase and three-phase inverter circuits. Variable voltage variable frequency three-phase inverter for use in induction motor drives.
• Transient Analysis in circuits.

This syllabus contributes to the following areas of the UK-SPEC standard:

Toggle display of UK-SPEC areas.

 
Last modified: 12/09/2018 13:04

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• Introduce key aspects of integrated digital electronics and its applications as logic devices.
• Introduce design and optimization techniques for combinational and sequential digital logic circuits.
• Introduce programmable logic design and hardware description language (Verilog) concepts.
• Introduce the principles of design and operation of the major digital integrated circuit technologies.
• Discuss the importance of miniaturising digital circuits and their key role in microprocessors, memories and programmable logic devices.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Understand the technologies that serve as building blocks to modern digital circuits and know their main applications.
• Analyse and synthesise how LSI circuits are used in logic; Multiplexers, Memory blocks, FPGAs.
• Design sequential logic circuits and finite state machines, and know about the Moore and Mealy models.
• Be familiar with Verilog hardware description language and be able to write code for basic circuits.
• Be familiar with the architecture and programming of modern FPGA devices and the design flow involved.
• Design synchronous circuits and use FPGAs for design of sequential networks.
• Appreciate the drive to miniaturise digital circuits and understand how this has improved performance and reduced cost.
• Know the definitions for noise margins, rise times, fall times and transfer characteristics for digital circuits.
• Be aware of the two operating regions (saturation and non-saturation) of the Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) and understand how the equations for the two regions are used to design and estimate the performance of digital circuit
• Be familiar with CMOS IC fabrication, layout and simulation fundamentals
• Appreciate the evolution of MOSFET inverters from the resistive load inverter through the enhancement and depletion transistor load inverters to the CMOS inverter.
• Plot the transfer characteristics and calculate the rise times for NMOS and CMOS inverters.
• Know the basic gate circuits for NMOS and CMOS logic and be able to compare their performance.
• Understand CMOS combinational logic gates such as NAND, NOR, XOR, and their delay and power analysis
• Understand CMOS designs of bistable circuit, SR latch, JK flip-flops, D flip-flops and latches and clocking strategies
• Understand the operating principles and design challenges of semiconductor memory circuits
• Be familiar with emerging topics in integrated digital electronics such as FinFETs, GAAFETs, 3D ICs, chiplets

Content

Part I: Logic Circuits & System-Level Digital Design (Lectures 1–8)

Lecture 1 — Introduction to Logic Circuits and Digital Systems

• Boolean algebra revision
• Logic gate synthesis using NAND/NOR
• Overview of logic minimization and combinational networks

Lecture 2 — Verilog Basics and Design Tools

• Verilog syntax, simulation vs. synthesis
• Design units: entities and architectures
• Introduction to FPGA synthesis flow

Lecture 3 — Combinational Circuit Design

• Multiplexers, decoders, priority encoders
• Boolean function implementation
• Lookup tables and hardware mapping in FPGA logic blocks

Lecture 4 — Sequential Logic Fundamentals

• Flip-flops: D, T, JK, SR
• Counters and registers
• Clocking, timing diagrams, basic FSMs

Lecture 5 — FSM Design in Verilog

• State diagram → Verilog implementation
• Hierarchical design and testbenches
• Case study: traffic light controller or vending machine

Lecture 6 — Programmable Logic Devices

• PLDs, CPLDs, FPGAs
• FPGA architecture overview
• Internal LUT, flip-flop, and routing structure

Lecture 7 — Datapath Elements and Control Logic

• Adders, multiplexers, ALUs, accumulators
• Memory blocks and register files
• Control unit design

Lecture 8 — Digital Signal Processing Case Study

• FFT pipeline overview
• Signal flow and parallelism
• Lab/demo using FPGA FFT IP core in Verilog FPGA design

Part II: Digital Integrated Circuits & CMOS Design (Lectures 9–16)

Lecture 9 — Introduction to CMOS-based Digital Design

• CMOS vs. other logic families
• Structure of digital ICs: cell libraries, standard cells
• Definitions of noise margins, definitions of transient characteristics (rise/fall times, delay), power estimation.

Lecture 10 —  MOS Transistors

• MOSFET structures and operation modes
• Threshold voltage, current-voltage characteristics, velocity saturation

Lecture 11 —  Fabrication, Layout and Simulation

• IC photolithography, patterning of transistors and wires, layout basics.
• SPICE simulation of MOS devices
• Interconnect and IC design metrics: RC modelling, delay estimation, scaling effects, Power, Performance, and Area (PPA) metrics, signal integrity: crosstalk, ground bounce

Lecture 12 — CMOS Inverter Design and Analysis

• Voltage transfer characteristics (VTC), noise margins and layout
• Power consumption: dynamic vs. static
• Delay analysis of CMOS inverters

Lecture 13 —  CMOS Combinational Logic Gates

• NAND, NOR, XOR using CMOS
• Transistor sizing and fan-in/fan-out effects
• Delay and power analysis of CMOS gates

Lecture 14 —  CMOS Sequential Circuits

• CMOS designs of bistable circuit, SR latch, JK flip-flops, D flip-flops and latches
• Clocking strategies: edge-triggering, pipelining

Lecture 15 —  Semiconductor Memory Circuits

• Memory organisation
• Static ROM and RAM cell designs and operation
• Peripheral circuits (CMOS tri-state buffers, Schmitt triggers)

Lecture 16 — Emerging Topics in Digital Electronics

• FinFET structure and motivation: short-channel effects, gate control, scaling
• Comparison of planar CMOS vs. FinFET and impact on digital ICs
• Gate-all-around FETs (GAAFETs), 3D ICs, chiplets

FPGA Experiment

Students are provided with a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) board and are asked to design a basic logic circuit, described by Verilog code, and use it to configure the FPGA chip. The circuit implementation is used to test the FPGA board functionality and understand the versatility of programmable logic technology. The boards are DE1-SoC by Terasic using Altera SoC FPGAs and donated by Terasic under Intel FPGA University Programme. 

Learning objectives: 

• Gain experience with FPGA devices
• Analyze and design logic circuits using Verilog
• Learn a design-flow for FPGAs
• Configure designed circuits into FPGAs
• Test configured FPGA devices

Practical information:

• Sessions will take place in EIETL, during weeks 1-8 Lent term.
• This activity involves preliminary work (~2h). You are required to read the lab handouts before lab sessions, and perform any activity required by the Lab Leader as a preparation for the lab.

Full Technical Report:

Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report.

Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• Introduce key aspects of integrated digital electronics and its applications as logic devices.
• Introduce design and optimization techniques for combinational and sequential digital logic circuits.
• Introduce programmable logic design and hardware description language (VHDL) concepts.
• Introduce the principles of design and operation of the major digital integrated circuit technologies.
• Discuss the importance of miniaturising digital circuits and their key role in microprocessors, memories and programmable logic devices.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• Understand the technologies that serve as building blocks to modern digital circuits and know their main applications.
• Analyse and synthesise how LSI circuits are used in logic; Multiplexers, Memory blocks, FPGAs.
• Design sequential logic circuits and finite state machines, and know about the Moore and Mealy models.
• Be familiar with VHDL hardware description language and be able to write code for basic circuits.
• Be familiar with the architecture and programming of modern FPGA devices and the design flow involved.
• Design synchronous circuits and use FPGAs for design of sequential networks.
• Appreciate the drive to miniaturise digital circuits and understand how this has improved performance and reduced cost.
• Know the definitions for noise margins, rise times, fall times and transfer characteristics for digital circuits.
• Be aware of the two operating regions (saturation and non-saturation) of the Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) and understand how the equations for the two regions are used to design and estimate the performance of digital circuit
• Appreciate the evolution of MOSFET inverters from the resistive load inverter through the enhancement and depletion transistor load inverters to the CMOS inverter.
• Plot the transfer characteristics and calculate the rise times for NMOS and CMOS inverters.
• Know the basic gate circuits for NMOS and CMOS logic and be able to compare their performance.
• Distinguish between the cut-off, linear and saturation regions of the bipolar transistor and know how the Ebers-Moll equations are used to design and estimate the performance of bipolar transistor digital circuits.
• Explain charge storage in diodes and bipolar transistors and understand how it limits the switching speed of bipolar digital circuits.
• Explain the operation of bipolar/CMOS (BiCMOS) circuits and be aware of their advantages for fast logic gates.
• Explain the operation of Emitter Coupled Logic (ECL) logic circuits and be able to plot the transfer characteristic and calculate the risetime for an ECL inverter.
• Understand the operation of the MOS Schmitt trigger and be able to calculate the trigger voltages.
• Understand the operating principles and design challenges of static and dynamic memories.

Content

Logic Circuits (8L)

Lecture 1. Introduction to logic circuits
Revision of Boolean algebra. NAND, NOR synthesis and logic networks.

Lecture 2. VHDL basics
Introduction to CAD tools. Terminology, Modelling, Synthesis. Design units.

Lecture 3. Combinational circuits
Multiplexers, Decoders, Boolean functions, Lookup Tables.
7-digit display example.

Lecture 4. Sequential circuits
Flip-flops, Registers, Counters.
Finite state machines. Design steps.

Lecture 5. Practical example of a sequential network
Hierarchical design with VHDL.

Lecture 6. Programmable logic circuits
PLDs, CPLDs, FPGAs.

Lecture 7. Data storage, processing and control
Memory blocks, Adders, Multipliers, Accumulators.
A simple processor.

Lecture 8. Digital signal processing
Fast Fourier transform (FFT) demo board application.

Digital Circuits (8L)

Lecture 1. Introduction to digital microelectronics

Lecture 2. Logic gate definitions
Inverter transfer characteristics, noise margins, rise times, fall times, delay times, etc. (H & J, Chap. 1).

Lecture 3. MOS Transistors
(H & J, Chap. 2).

Lecture 4. MOS and CMOS Inverters
(H & J Chap. 3).

Lecture 5. Bipolar Transistors and charge storage
(H & J Chap. 4).

Lecture 6. ECL
(H & J, Chap. 7).

Lecture 7. BiCMOS gates. Schmitt triggers
(H & J, Chapter 8).

Lecture 8. Semiconductor memories: static and dynamic RAM circuits
(H & J, Chapter 9).

FPGA Experiment

Students are provided with a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) board and are asked to design a basic logic circuit, described by VHDL code, and use it to configure the FPGA chip. The circuit implementation is used to test the FPGA board functionality and understand the versatility of programmable logic technology.

Learning objectives: 

• Gain experience with FPGA devices
• Analyze and design logic circuits using VHDL
• Learn a design-flow for FPGAs
• Configure designed circuits into FPGAs
• Test configured FPGA devices

Practical information:

• Sessions will take place in EIETL, during weeks 1-8 Lent term.
• This activity involves preliminary work (~2h). You are required to read the lab handouts before lab sessions, and perform any activity required by the Lab Leader as a preparation for the lab.

Full Technical Report:

Students will have the option to submit a Full Technical Report.