[sdiy] Tips on network theory??

[Dan Snazelle]

Ok this really hits home

Why? Because two of the most "clear" and intuitive books i own (art of elec and the malvino book) dont touch on network stuff


I was wondering why last night as i went through my stack of books, looking through the indexes.



This ALL started because i bought dennis feuchts 4 volume book 

"Analog circuit design series"


It has a ton of stuff which flys over my head and i have been trying to play catch-up


Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 19, 2012, at 11:41 AM, David G Dixon <dixon at mail.ubc.ca> wrote:

>> So what stuff SHOULD i learn of network theory?
> 
> ***** WARNING: POTENTIALLY CONTROVERSIAL OPINIONS BELOW *****
> 
> It seems to me that, in order to be able to derive the required expressions
> for the two-port impedances used in network theory, you've got to conduct a
> complete nodal current balance around the circuit at hand anyway.  Hence,
> why not just conduct the nodal current balance and be done with it?  It
> gives the same answer, and does so in any more intuitively satisfying way.
> As a case in point, have a look here:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-port_network
> 
> Scroll down to the two-port network analysis of the bipolar current mirror
> with emitter degeneration (Figure 3).  Perhaps someone could tell me what is
> to be gained by thinking about the circuit in Figure 3 in terms of Figure 5,
> when it must be analyzed in terms of Figure 4 in either case?  Perhaps, if
> every functional block in a larger circuit were reduced to two-ports, then
> it might make the linear algebra a bit more manageable, but at this point
> you'd probably want to use a SPICE simulator anyway.
> 
> That's my take on it.  Others may have different opinions.  The two books I
> spent the most time with for learning the basics were "The Art of
> Electronics" by Horowitz & Hill and "Electronic Principles" by Malvino (3rd
> ed.).  Neither book even touches on network theory.  I find that most
> telling.  I also find it telling that most EEs are forced to learn network
> theory in their undergraduate courses, but most of them don't acquire enough
> skill to design even the most basic analog circuits.
> 
> 
>